The latest news from Chinese pharma, including Fosun Pharma’s 2021 interim results; how AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Merck & Co., Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi have achieved China growth in the first half of the year despite pricing squeezes on their mature brands; and why Bayer sees huge growth potential in the Chinese market.
Fosun Pharma Announces 2021 Interim Results (BioSpace)
https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/fosun-pharma-announces-2021-interim-results/
Revenue amounted to RMB16,952 million, a year-on-year increase of 20.85%, of which, the income from regions outside Chinese Mainland and overseas countries accounted for 30.66%.
Merck, Novo, Sanofi and more pull off China growth thanks to price manoeuvring. But anxiety grows over outlook for biologics (Fierce Pharma)
AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Merck & Co., Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi are among Western drugmakers that reported pharma sales growth from China during the first half of 2021.
But even as innovative products such as AZ’s lung cancer med Tagrisso, Merck’s HPV vaccine Gardasil and Novartis’ immunology drug Cosentyx ginned up sales increases, pharma companies have also found themselves playing defense for their mature brands. Plus, that continually expanding price-cutting program now looks ready to tap into biologics, starting with insulins.
Bayer Sees A Golden Age For China’s Pharmaceutical Market (Forbes)
Bayer has business locations in 83 countries around the world. Overall, pharmaceuticals are its second-biggest business after crop science, accounting for 41.6% of sales of about 17 billion euros in 2020.
Yet Bayer’s revenue split in China doesn’t match that global mix. Reflecting China’s standing as the world’s No. 2 pharmaceutical market, some 80% of its Greater China business— nearly double the global average — is tied to that industry. The way Bayer sees it, the growth potential is still large.
What Happens to a Fortune 500’s 2025 Playbook If the China Market is Not Part of It? (PharmaExec)
In this instalment of the Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association (HBSHAA) Q&A series, Harvard Professor and Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, Dr. William C. Kirby, talks to Michael Wong about the potential impact on multinational western pharma firms of disruption in China.
Can AstraZeneca sustain rapid growth in China amid price-cutting scheme and local competition? It’ll probably be slower, execs say (Fierce Pharma)
Over the past few years, China has been offering AstraZeneca bragging rights. But the company’s business in the country is coming to a turning point after being exposed to the government’s price-cutting scheme and local competition—and investors have caught wind.
During a conference call Thursday, Wall Street analysts piled into AstraZeneca’s China performance, pressing management on whether the company can sustain its double-digit sales growth in the country.
