Quality-control fears notwithstanding, China has knocked India off the catbird seat as pharma's favorite spot for outsourcing.
According to a new report from PriceWaterhouse Coopers, China beats every other Asian country as an investment and contracting
destination, followed by India, Korea and Taiwan. The countries all were evaluated by cost, risk, and market opportunities.
And it's not just low-cost production that's luring pharma to Asia, either. The report found that the region is growing
in stature as a source for innovation and discovery.[i] Plus, local markets are burgeoning, giving pharma the potential for lots
of new emerging-market sales.
The various countries have different strengths, with China and India the primary drivers of pharma growth in the region. Singapore, on the other hand, is considered more of an R&D specialist, while Korea and Taiwan are emerging as competitors for pharma investment and business. What's contributing the the region's magnetism? Greater
attention to intellectual property protections, for one. Cheaper clinical trials,
of course. And an explosion of growth in certified contract manufacturers. In India, for example, there are more than 100
FDA-approved pharma plants, the largest number in any country outside the U.S.
[i] Sinovac for example is developing a new bird
flu therapy. R&D in china is growing at about 20% per year since 1999. Hundreds of companies have opened research centres in Beijing and Shanghai. China has now overtaken
Japan’s research and development spending, and is projected
to over take the U.S. in 2015.
Info from BBC News article 7/27/07,
China’s drive to promote invention by James Reynolds. .
