Lower-tier markets

A report conducted by international business management and strategy advisory firm Boston Consulting Group said county-level hospitals and community healthcare centers in China have the greatest potential now. Annual growth of the two channels exceeded 30 percent over the last three years.

"Bayer has done well in the community healthcare sector, making up 4.8 percent of the market in 2010, the second-largest among all domestic and multinational companies in China," said Magen Xia, principal of BCG Greater China.

She attributed the success to the Bayer Health House program, which was initiated in 2006. Each "house" acts as a platform for diabetes education, free doctor consultancy services and communication with patients. The program has set up more than 400 such houses in hospitals and communities in 30 cities around China.

Chronic disease treatment is one of the competitive edges of Bayer HealthCare, which it has been making efforts to explore and will continue to do so.

Kanti took the example of hypertension: "About 18 to 20 percent of the population suffers from hypertension, so treating these people not only improves the outcome for the country per se but also creates opportunities for us."

Kanti believes there are lower treatment rates but faster growth, which "doubles the excitement of the market".

BCG's Xia said the favorable scenario for multinational companies is that more hypertension patients have switched from local to multinational brands in the 30 richest cities around China.

In the county-level hospital sector, involving around 10,000 facilities in 2,000 counties and lower-tier cities, local companies are still key players. Only Denmark-based Novo Nordisk AG entered the top 20 list in 2010, taking a 0.8 percent market share.

Kanti said that Bayer is making lower-tier cities one of its priorities in China.

The company is divided into three regions: north, south and west. Each is responsible for its own lower-city market expansion. It helps the company cope with China's vastness and diverse geographic and demographic conditions and helps increase efficiency.

Bayer HealthCare started its Go West Project in 2007 and has invested 20 million yuan to provide free training for doctors and hospital heads in poverty-stricken areas, another move by the company to work with the government to develop China's healthcare infrastructure.

While the emerging sectors are not easy to handle, a BCG report said the large size and fragmentation of the market is the first challenge any multinational company faces. Others include policy issues, inconsistency in the criteria for the nation's Essential Drugs List and market access to key provinces and municipalities.

They all challenge the pharmaceutical company's market judgment and decision making.

Kanti said the most important thing for him to do is to understand the market and the people. During his first six months in China, he traveled a lot and talked to people a lot.

"We have a large organization of 6,500 people around the nation. It is important to listen and maximize the creativity and drive momentum these people created for the organization," he said.

The people, the company's innovative new medicines and a very rich product portfolio on chronic diseases that the aging Chinese population needs most can support continuous growth for Bayer HealthCare in China, he added.

liujie@chinadaily.com.cn