While in previous years China’s drug industry mostly replicated Western medicines, recently there has been a shift in the country’s pharmaceutical sector, with Chinese companies now wanting to play a larger role in the global drug market. Chinese drug companies were traditionally reluctant to pour money into pharmaceutical R&D, considering it a risky endeavor, and consequently focused on more guaranteed revenue streams, such as duplicating Western-made drugs. However, due to the rise of cancer and diabetes in the country, China has prioritized drug innovation, with the government pledging to streamline drug approvals and work on stopping the current brain drain by incentivizing Chinese scientists working abroad to return to China. The Chinese government has also announced plans to provide land, as well as tax breaks for and higher investments in R&D.

Recently, three original drugs were created in China—one stopping the spreading of cancer into other organs, one treating blood cancer and one using immuno-therapy to kill tumors—and are awaiting regulatory approval in the US.

Although drug companies in the country are in the early stages of drug development, experts predict that China will soon be on par with pharmaceutical powerhouses like Pfizer and AstraZeneca. Until then, accessibility to quality drugs remains limited in the country. Chinese drug companies such as Chi-Med and BeiGene are trying to change this by making drug discovery and innovation a top priority through increased R&D, as well as through international collaborations with established pharmaceutical companies such as Celgene and Merck.

Source: The New York Times