Following the recent news that China has revised its drug laws to remove drugs that are legal in foreign countries but not approved in China from the category of ‘fake medicines’ from 1 December 2019, and made Market Authorization Holder changes permanent, 

Peter Shapiro, Senior Director of the Drugs and Business Fundamentals at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“The Chinese pharmaceutical market is the second largest in the world by value after the US. According to GlobalData, the Chinese pharma market, which is dominated by domestic manufacturers, is expected to grow from nearly US$132bn in 2018 to more than US$209bn by 2022.

“China is looking to modernize and harmonize its regulatory policies with the rest of the world. It will present foreign players with new opportunities and further help in achieving the ‘treatment for all’ objective as part of the Chinese government’s ‘Healthy China’ program.

“Indian companies have until now had limited involvement in the Chinese market. However, these favorable regulatory changes and strong growth will make China a more appealing market for Indian companies. The latest revised drug laws will allow Indian companies, which have already been successful in other well-regulated markets, to grow in the Chinese market.”