| By Daisy Zhang, Asia Manufacturing Pharma |
| Monday, 23 June 2008 |
 |
|
A report on clinical drug use monitoring shows the clinical use of cefixime, an oral antibiotic and the third-generation cephalosporin drug that was developed by Japan’s Fujisawa Pharmaceutical, has been increasing over the past few years. In addition, cefixime is a good fit for sophisticated advanced technology and is more profitable than its predecessors. All these factors make cefixime unique among a number of cephalosporin drugs. |
|
|
China started importing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for cefixime in 1994. Guangzhou Baiyun Pharmaceutical was the first Chinese pharmaceutical company to produce cefixime using imported APIs, and the company has now become the largest cefixime manufacturer in the country. Domestic demand for the drug has been growing rapidly in recent years, due to its high clinical efficacy and paucity of side effects.
Based on numbers from a representative group of hospitals, sales of cefixime more than doubled between 2006 and 2007. The drug’s market share is expected to continue to increase over the next few years.
Many Chinese pharmaceutical |
|
|
companies have joined the expanding list of cefixime manufacturers as all are optimistic in terms of the drug’s prospects. This will lead to increasingly fierce competition in the sector. Twenty-three Chinese pharmaceutical firms had received approval for the production of cefixime APIs as of May of this year. Furthermore, the fierce competition in the cefixime APIs market has resulted in a significant decrease in the prices of the APIs.
Besides Guangzhou Baiyun Pharmaceutical, China’s other cefixime makers include Guangdong Liguo Pharmacy, Shandong LuKang Pharmaceutical and Suzhou Wanqing Pharmaceutical. Recent statistics show that the country’s annual domestic production of cefixime now amounts to approximately 100 tons.
Data show imported APIs dominated the Chinese cefixime APIs market in 2007, with a market share of 65 per cent. However, home-made cefixime APIs are gradually expanding their market share with the establishment of more and more domestic cefixime APIs makers in the country. Furthermore, the cefixime APIs producers, including Qilu Antibiotics Pharmaceutical, have dramatically enhanced their production capacity as a result of the drug’s high profitability. |
|
The prices of cefixime APIs, which are significantly impacted by upstream APIs, including GCLE and penicillin industrial salt derived from GCLE, have experienced ups and downs in recent years, but are now seeing a downward trend. The average cefixime price was 4,200 yuan/kg (US$600/kg) in early 2007 but had once dropped to 3,600 yuan/kg (US$514/kg) previously.
In the second half of 2007, the price slumped to approximately 3,000 yuan/kg (US$428/kg), as a result of the decreasing prices of upstream APIs as well as expanded production of GCLE in China. The drug’s price has now fallen into a range between 2,600 and 2,700 yuan/kg (US$371/kg to US$386/kg), while its imported equivalent is only fetching 2,400 to 2,500 yuan/kg (US$343/kg to US$357/kg).
______________________________
Want to read more?
______________________________
North China Pharmaceutical reports improved financial results due to price increases for main products
Yangtze River Pharmaceutical plans to expand into API market
China’s pharmaceutical packaging and excipient manufacturers relieve cost pressure by launching new products |
|
|
