Pharmaceutical companies in China have increased their investment in R&D to 6.9% of revenue in 2014 from 3.9% in 2009. This has helped them make the shift from manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients to drug developers. Sino Biopharm, for example, stepped up its R&D investment sevenfold to $140 million from 2009 to 2014. This, along with the technological input and experience of about two million professionals who have returned from overseas training, has helped establish the firms internationally in drug development. Multinational corporations have been stimulating R&D in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry by working with companies and conducting clinical trials in the country at a fraction of their cost in the US. Chinese companies are increasingly becoming familiar with compliance regulations outside of the country, which are more detailed and developed than their own. The firms are also aiming to have more of their drugs approved in the US and other international markets. Many Chinese pharmaceutical firms plan to go public in the US, although it may take some time for US investors to recognize the gains that Chinese companies have made.

Source: BioWorld