Challenges facing China's pharmaceutical industry; "quality will improve," AEI says

The growing importance of China as a center for global pharmaceutical manufacturing makes deadly lapses in quality a concern worldwide,  according to a report by the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington  DC-based conservative-oriented think-tank.

Roger Bate, lead author of a recent outlook paper for the Institute,  titled the Problems and Potential of China's Pharmaceutical Industry,  discussed some of the issues raised by the report with the Marketletter.  Among these are the Chinese government's "inattention," which provides  the opportunity for counterfeit and substandard medicine production  and distribution, efforts by the regulators to address the problems and  ways in which international partners, including the private sector, can  help improve standards.

The Chinese drug market is the ninth largest worldwide, with output  estimated to be about $86.0 billion in 2007, according to government  data, and average growth of 17% per year for the past few decades, Dr  Bate reports. The country has also developed a significant position as a  manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients for finishing  elsewhere. For example, 40% of US drug ingredients are now thought to  originate in China, making the lack of adequate quality control an  international problem.