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UK drug company bullish in China

By Nicholas Ning (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-26 13:59

Astrazeneca Plc, the world's seventh-largest drug maker, expects sales in China to grow more than 20 percent annually from this year through 2010, outperforming China's market growth.

"Given our portfolio, we believe AstraZeneca's growth in China should be faster than the country's drug market growth in the next two to three years as what we have achieved last year," said James Ward-Lilley, president of AstraZeneca China, expecting the China market to grow at 15 to 20 percent.

Last year, the UK-based pharmaceutical firm registered sales of US$320 million selling drugs like asthma medicine Symbicort, an increase of 19 percent from a year earlier.

Growth was slower than in 2005 as no new drug was launched on the market last year. Total sales of AstraZeneca worldwide last year increased 11 percent to US$26 billion.

The 20 percent goal is similar to its rival Novartis AG, the world's fifth-largest drug company, which announced earlier this month it aimed for growth of around 20 percent in sales in China this year from last year's 2.13 billion yuan (US$273 million).

To develop drugs that go with the local market, AstraZeneca announced last Friday it had chosen Shanghai's Zhangjiang High-Tech Industrial Park as its initial base for its research and development activities, part of AstraZeneca's plan to invest US$100 million in R&D in China from 2006.

The Innovation Center China will open in mid-2007 before the establishment of a permanent site that officials are still looking for.