GSK sees opportunity in China

GlaxoSmithKline Biological, which holds 25 percent of the world vaccine market, is eyeing opportunities in China.

GSK plans to launch two new products in China this year, including Boostrix (a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine for adolescents) and DTPa-Hib (a combination vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and haemophilus influenza type B diseases), according to Jean Stephenne, the company's president and general manager.

This will be in addition to the eight vaccines that GSK has already registered in the Chinese market, meaning 10 of GSK's 25 vaccines are now in China, Stephenne told China Daily during his recent trip to Beijing.

GSK has another 20 vaccines that it is currently testing around the world (including one for malaria), some of which it may bring to China, according to Stephenne.

Stephenne said he hopes the cervical cancer vaccine, in particular, will be introduced in China soon, since cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death for women after breast cancer.

"This vaccine is important for girls and young women," he said.

Other vaccines that are planned for the China market include a rotavirus vaccine for children (rotavirus causes diarrhea, which can be a serious disease in remote regions), a strepto pneumonia vaccine, which received authorization from the European Commission at the end of March, and a lung cancer vaccine, which may help eliminate all the cancer cells after patients go through chemotherapy or surgery.

"We have done studies that found this vaccine can increase people's chance of survival by 30 percent," said Stephenne.

GSK set up a joint venture last November with Shenzhen-based Neptunus Interlong Bio-Technique Co Ltd to produce flu vaccines.

GSK offers lower prices to organization such as UNICEF, which gets the lowest rate, and the Chinese government's EPI (expanded program on immunization) project.

But so far most vaccines on the Chinese government EPI list are provided by State-owned enterprises, such as institutes under the China National Biotech Group, at a much lower price than those of multinational firms such as GSK, Merck and Novartis.

The central government decided to expand the EPI list from seven to 15 vaccines last year and promised to invest some 2.8 billion yuan each year in the plan, triggering enthusiasm from multinational firms eager to grab a bigger slice of the Chinese vaccine market. The central government has indicated it may also loosen restrictions on foreign companies participating in the EPI project.

Most international drug giants operating in China have been selling their products to the private market and, consequently, EPI-related business only accounts for a small fraction of GSK's total vaccine sales in the country.

GSK claims to have 15 percent of the Chinese market. Its main rivals include the China National Biotech Group, a State-owned enterprise that controls most of the EPI market, and multinational Sanofi Pasteur, which has also built a production base in Shenzhen.

The 43 vaccine producers currently operating in China produce 41 vaccines for 26 different diseases, with an annual capacity of 1 billion doses.

(China Daily 04/27/2009 page9)