政府新闻
国际制药厂商着力于开发中国医药改革的红利 2022-10-23
Global Drugmakers Eye Dividend From China’s Medical Reforms
The further healthcare reforms proposed in the work report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will open up new opportunities, according to executives at medical companies.
The drug reform program China launched in 2015 had the aim of speeding up new approvals, Yang Dajun, chairman and chief executive of Ascentage Pharma Group, told Yicai Global, adding that this led to the development of innovative drugs and medical devices, which helped meet the wider clinical needs of patients.
Ascentage, a Suzhou-based developer of tumor treatments, also benefited from this reform, Yang noted. The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2019 and it gained approval last November to market its first self-developed drug, Olverembatinib.
GlaxoSmithKline has accelerated the pace of bringing new drugs to China, introducing nearly 20 for hepatitis, respiratory tract conditions, neurology, HIV and vaccines, and this owes a lot to the drug reform policy, Qi Xin, vice president of the London-based pharma giant and general manager of GSK China, told Yicai Global.
GSK has also taken part in the bulk-buying drugs program spearheaded by the National Healthcare Security Administration to make medications more affordable. The company has had five innovative drugs included in China’s national medical insurance scheme in the past three years, Qi added.
China is becoming one of the global centers for healthcare innovation, with many products and technologies incorporating Chinese advances, said Zhang Yihao, president of GE Healthcare China.
The US medical devices giant has five plants in China, with more than 1,200 research and development staff. It has marketed more than 100 products developed in the country, and has the capability to research, develop and produce both economical and high-end medical equipment, Zhang said.
China has also been introducing policies to support the development of online healthcare. This has allowed online medical care to develop from basic medical digitalization to healthcare services, providing strong support and alleviating the problem of uneven medical resources, Wang Shirui, founder and CEO of online medical platform Medlinker, told Yicai Global.
By June, more than 1,700 online hospitals had secure regulatory approval in China, according to data from the National Health Commission.
“We hope the Chinese government will continue to focus on innovative drugs and vaccines for serious, chronic and infectious diseases, to narrow the time lag in the launch of innovative drugs and vaccines between overseas and China,” GSK’s Qi said.
Ascentage’s Yang said: “We hope government departments will cooperate to explore the establishment of a multi-level insurance system for pharmaceutical payments, comprehensively improve access to innovative drugs, accelerate the transformation of innovative achievements, and help China become a powerful nation in the healthcare industry.”
Source: Yicai
