World pharma should look to China R&D for place in that market, says BCG report

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector in China is booming. Already growing rapidly, China will likely leapfrog many western European markets to emerge as the world's fifth-largest national market for pharmaceuticals by 2010, the USA-based Boston Consulting Group concludes in its recent report, entitled: A Game Plan for China. Biopharma R&D in China is also keeping pace. Stimulated by government spending, leading multinational pharmaceutical companies (MPCs) are playing a key role by outsourcing chemistry-based R&D to China. These firms, the report says, must now decide whether to raise the stakes

"The decision how and when to invest in R&D in China is a strategic choice," asserts senior vice president John Wong, regional chairman of BCG's Asia-Pacific region and a co-author of the report. "By investing more heavily and in more complex areas of R&D in China, an MPC can signal its commitment to the Chinese market and strengthen relationships with key opinion leaders and officials there - thus increasing its chances of thriving in the health care market now taking shape in China," he adds.

Will not achieve major cost savings