Multinational Drug Companies Entering the Chinese Medicine Market Further Promote the Modernisation of the Industry

Chinese medicine is a great creation of the Chinese nation, a treasure of ancient science in China, and has had a positive impact on the progress of the Chinese nation and the world's civilisation, with its stable nature, precise efficacy, relatively small toxic side effects, and the convenience of taking, carrying and storing.

It is understood that in recent years, multinational pharmaceutical companies have also started to gradually get involved in the Chinese medicine industry. For example, AstraZeneca, SK, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim and so on.

Among them, AstraZeneca's innovation base focusing on the field of Chinese medicine has recently been officially settled in Chengdu. It is reported that this is another important attempt in the TCM industry after AstraZeneca and Greenleaf Group reached a promotional cooperation on blood lipid kang.

According to public information, the base will feature a modernised TCM industry, rely on academician experts to drive scientific research transformation and industrial development, and build a one-stop TCM incubation industry empowerment platform in the west, including a new R&D institution with academician experts as the core, a modernised and innovative TCM industry service platform, a one-stop TCM clinical R&D transformation platform and a TCM modernisation commercial platform.

AstraZeneca said that the company will further layout the incubation of key Chinese medicine varieties and plans to introduce more high-quality proprietary Chinese medicines in the therapeutic areas that AstraZeneca is deeply involved in, such as heart failure, stroke and chronic kidney disease.

In addition, back in 2014, German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim had signed a three-year contract with GPG to promote one of GPG's TCM products. Foreign pharmaceutical companies began to enter the marketing market of Chinese medicine products.

It is reported that the product that the two sides cooperated on is "Children's Seven Star Tea Syrup", which is produced by Guangzhou Pangaoshou Pharmaceutical Co. Boehringer Ingelheim said at the time that it had chosen this drug for its collaboration because it was optimistic about the domestic market's preference for Chinese medicine and medicines for children.

As Sanofi had cooperated with China Resources Sanjiu to set up Sanjiu Sanofi, it is reported that China Resources Sanjiu's dominant products in the past were mainly cold and flu medicines and proprietary Chinese medicines, and from 2017, it started to lay out specialized markets such as pediatrics, orthopedics, gynecology, liver and gall bladder. After the cooperation with Sanofi, Sanofi "good doll" will be integrated with the existing pediatric brand of China Resources Sanjiu, etc.

Analysts said that in recent years, China's support for Chinese medicine has been increasing, the Chinese medicine market potential, which to some extent has a certain degree of attraction to multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Especially since the promulgation of the Chinese Medicine Law, Chinese medicine products are enjoying certain policy dividends in the market competition. In addition, in recent years, the release of the "Guidance on Medical Insurance Support for the Inheritance and Innovative Development of Chinese Medicine" and the issuance of the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of Chinese medicine have also provided policy encouragement for the development of Chinese medicine.

This has, to a certain extent, attracted multinational pharmaceutical companies to enter the TCM industry. At the same time, the entry of multinational pharmaceutical companies into the TCM industry may also further promote the modernisation of TCM and the development of TCM out of China and internationally.

For example, AstraZeneca said that the cooperation with Chengdu High-tech Zone to build a TCM innovation industrial base will help AstraZeneca focus on TCM modernization and innovation development, and promote international experience exchange, etc.

However, it is worth noting that multinational pharmaceutical companies developing the TCM industry still need to face the situation of competition with local pharmaceutical companies in TCM, so it is important to choose the right products.