US biotech firm bullish on Chinese business

US biotech company Amgen is aiming at rapid development of its business in China by bringing in more bone and inflammation therapies to build on its robust annual growth in the country.

The enormous growth this year came mainly from the launch of a biologic injection to treat cardiovascular disease, and the product was moving much faster than anticipated, Penny Wan, vice-president and general manager of Amgen Japan, Australia and Asia-Pacific, said during an interview with China Daily.

"We estimate we will see triple-digit growth in China this year," Wan said.

China is absolutely on top of the worldwide agenda of the company, which started its business in the country in 2012 and has two products for three indications so far, Wan said.

"For China, two out of every five deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases. We see our solution as fitting for the Chinese community and we want to move really fast to help those patients," she said.

Annual rankings by the Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, a US-based industry journal, showed Amgen was ranked first among biopharmaceutical companies in the world for 2019 for the second time. It is one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, with its headquarters located in Thousand Oaks, California.

At the beginning of this month, the company announced it was in the process of closing a deal with BeiGene, a Beijing-based domestic biomedicine enterprise. The deal is awaiting regulatory approval.

"We are accelerating our momentum to building a more robust and complete portfolio in our key China market. Such strategic collaboration with local leading players is aimed to expand our oncology presence in China and to jointly advance Amgen's oncology pipeline in China and globally," Wan said.

Amgen wants to accelerate the transformation of its healthcare model from disease treatment to prevention through collaboration with multiple stakeholders to help the country achieve the Healthy China 2030 initiative.

In the area of bone health, a major issue in an aging society, it is trying to work with different partners to help prevent falls and fractures for people with low bone density.

Statistics from the National Health Commission last year showed that the rate of osteoporosis among Chinese people aged 50 and older was 19.2 percent.

"With aging, the number one challenge is what if people lose their mobility when they fall, have fractured bones, and then they can potentially become dependent," Wan said, adding that one in three patients with a hip fracture dies within 12 months.

The disease presents a heavy economic burden for families and the society. Figures from the International Osteoporosis Foundation showed that medical bills caused by hip fractures totaled more than $9 billion in China in 2010, and are forecast to more than double to nearly $20 billion in 2035.

"So we're working with partners to promote prevention ahead of treatment of a hip fracture. It's a better option for osteoporosis patients to receive treatment for osteoporosis so that they don't break their bones," Wan explained.

She said the company is gearing up to launch an injection product taken every six months to help increase bone density and prevent fractures for people in the Chinese market.

"We have specific plans and are conducting active discussions with the regulatory authorities to bring the project into the country," Wan said.