| By Grace Zhang, Asia Manufacturing Pharma |
| Tuesday, 24 June 2008 |
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In light of tremendous demand in high-end markets for and great market opportunities facing generic drugs across the globe, many Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) producers have started to follow the successful example of their Indian counterparts by stepping up R&D efforts in new |
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and hi-tech product offerings and improving the comprehensive competitiveness of manufacturing operations, in a move to transform China from a country focusing on the export of generic APIs and preparations into one with homegrown innovative drugs exported to a growing array of both developed and emerging markets.
APIs including pharmaceutical intermediates maintained their strong export momentum during the first quarter of 2008, with penicillin industrial salt, amoxicillin, 7-ACA and cefazolin sodium recording exports of 3522 tons, 878 tons, 102 tons and 59 tons, respectively, up 2.6 per cent, 34.1 per cent, 50.9 per cent and 42.4 per cent from a year earlier. |
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An overall analysis shows that China’s APIs exports are expected to continue the uprising trend.
A series of factors including rising costs for primary raw materials, the continued appreciation of the yuan and the environmental restriction policies put in place by the Chinese government, are leading to narrower margins for the country’s APIs producers, pushing them to turn to a standardized international market. In addition, the higher APIs prices, combined with favorable foreign trade policy changes, are also driving up the exports of APIs.
China has become the world’s number one producer of penicillin, 7-ACA and amoxicillin APIs, with several APIs producers including Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, Shandong Lukang Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, each having successfully developed their own unique brand recognition. In addition, such internationally renowned pharmaceutical enterprises as DSM, Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb have each set up joint ventures with Chinese pharmaceutical producers, transforming these enterprises into the main force behind the country’s |
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APIs exports.
Thanks to their accelerated acquisition of international certifications and extension to downstream production, Indian APIs producers reported significant increases in sales despite fiercer market competition and the government’s price regulation facing the country’s APIs sector in recent years. Through a combined strategy of products export and capital export, the country’s pharmaceutical producers have entered the world’s high-end generic drug markets, including America and Europe. Chinese enterprises, as a result, are emulating their Indian peers’ successful experience, in a move to fast track their entry into high-end markets worldwide.
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