Domestic drugmakers take center stage in development, innovation

Global reach

Wang Feng, executive president of Yifan Pharmaceutical, said one notable trend he has observed during negotiations with international partners is that they now consistently inquire about what advanced products Yifan has in its portfolio that they can help commercialize globally.

A couple of years ago, negotiations mainly focused on Chinese drugmakers seeking to license innovative products from foreign pharmaceutical companies, Wang said.

He said taking novel drug products abroad is not merely an option but a necessary path for the survival and advancement of drugmakers.

"That is because, in the pharmaceutical industry, 90 percent of innovation costs are front-loaded and failure rates are high, making it difficult for a single market to support the risks of innovation," he said.

Wang added that going global also increases the size of the patient population, which benefits securing funding for continued innovation, and cultivating crucial capabilities in clinical research, insurance reimbursement negotiations and commercialization.

For the registration of F-627, a novel drug used to treat a decrease in white blood cells after chemotherapy, Wang said the company implemented rigorous clinical trial protocols and engaged in thorough communication with foreign drug regulators in preparation for global expansion.

"We intentionally avoided out-licensing the product at an early stage so as to build our capabilities spanning the entire drug development process, from clinical study and production to regulatory registration," he said.

One significant challenge the company encountered was managing the supply chain and logistics for a global market and handling differences in compliance requirements across various regions.

"We initially struggled with flexibility, promptness and operational effectiveness. Through swift adjustments and by leveraging China's manufacturing and industrial advantages, we eventually succeeded in upgrading our supply chain to meet global demands," he said.

This experience demonstrated that going global requires systematic and strategic planning, extending well beyond merely having an innovative product, he said.

The company used a different approach to enter global markets. In Southeast Asia, the company has opted for a self-operated model, relying on its own on-the-ground teams to promote and sell products, Wang said.

This strategy is the result of more than a decade of acquiring local firms and establishing a local workforce and commercialization capability. "The early investment costs time and money, but it allowed us to gain local teams, business systems and regional influence," he said.

Zhou, from the NMPA, said, when expanding abroad, China's drug firms should carefully consider their strategic focus, whether on simply exporting products, establishing an industrial presence overseas or engaging in collaborative research and development.

"With technological breakthroughs in areas such as gene editing, AI-driven drug development, brain-computer interfaces and early cancer screening, China's pharmaceutical sector is transitioning from disease treatment to comprehensive health management. Chinese enterprises should not only sell products but also export complete health solutions," he said.