22% growth in China cancer drug market

The Chinese Ministry of Health says there are about 2.13 million patients with newly-diagnosed tumors (benign and malignant) each year,  of which 1.06 million are first-time observed cancer victims. Cancer has  become the leading cause of death in both urban and rural China.  National statistics show that the cancer mortality rate of urban Chinese  residents is currently 140.47 per 100,000 (21.8% of all urban deaths)  and of rural Chinese residents it is 111.57 per 100,000 (16.5% of all  rural deaths).

In the Chinese hospital drug market, sales of oncology agents have risen  steadily in recent years. During 2003-2005, the annual compound growth  rate of anti-cancer drug sales was around 24.5%. In 2006, due to the  national campaign on anti-commercial bribery, as well as other related  government policies, the market growth of anti-cancer drugs slowed down  to about 11.1%; however, the growth of the oncology market regained  momentum and reached an ACGR of approximately 22.2% in 2007. The total  market size for anti-cancer drugs in 2007 was 25.5 billion renminbi  ($3.6 billion).