国际药企在中国,未来投资前10位(美元6300万-15亿),2012-11-19

Top 10 Big Pharma investments in China/special-reports/top-10-big-pharma-investments-chinaBy Nick Taylor，2012-11-19The largest Big Pharma investments in China are about much more than just numbers; they tell the story of the fight over the biggest game in town. Each million-dollar headline marks the latest salvo in a struggle to take control of a market that could make or break Big Pharma players.With traditional strongholds in a seemingly prolonged slump, the drug industry is betting big on emerging markets. And China makes other emerging opportunities look like chicken feed. Take the diabetes market in China, which Datamonitor predicts will swell to $2.1 billion by 2019. That's the sort of dollar figure that catches the eye, and a handful of Big Pharma firms are now fighting it out to take control of the market.Sanofi ($SNY), Eli Lilly ($LL Y) and Merck ($MRK) are the challengers. Each is spending big to eat away at market share held by Novo Nordisk ($NVO) and Bayer. And in this hypercompetitive, high-stakes market, small advantages can drive big sales. Everyone is jostling for position. Sanofi strengthens ties to the government by offering diabetes training; Novo retaliates by promising more local education, research and manufacturing. Almost half of the investments in this feature--which is an overview of 10 companies active in China, not a definitive list--are focused on diabetes. All figures are taken from company communications.The investments give companies access to a growing pool of affordable yet skilled drug researchers. But dollars spent in China build more than just infrastructure; they cement relationships. With China widening its healthcare coverage, Big Pharma is keen to secure an audience with budget holders. And committing big bucks to China will do companies no harm when market-access talks get under way.Even with billions of dollars behind them, companies are enlisting outside help to crack China. And the new set of pressures and opportunities facing Big Pharma--globally and in China--are leading to unusual alliances. Pfizer, for example, has shacked up with a state-owned drugmaker to sell the products that have hurt it most, generics. It faces competition from AstraZeneca ($AZN) and Eli Lilly, which have invested in local partners to capture a slice of the branded generics market too.Others have allied to target vaccines, notably GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK), which showed one possible endgame for successful joint ventures when it bought out its partner for $39 million. Collaboration is taking place in R&D too. Eli Lilly was an early mover--giving Chinese CRO ShangPharma a shot in the arm back in 2002--and has continued to work with local partners. But the game has evolved, with AstraZeneca and Merck Serono among those pushing new ways of investing in and working with CROs in China.This myriad of approaches to investing in China masks two common goals: Make China an engine room for drug discovery, development and manufacturing; and capture a bigger slice of the ballooning market. With growth and innovation faltering in other markets, Big Pharma is heavily invested in hitting these two objectives.Failure in China is simply not an option.Company: Merck & Co. ($MRK)Investment: $1.5 billion over 5 yearsThemes: Vaccines, diabetes and joint venturesMerck （MSD）made a major play to boost its standing in China last December when it outlined plans to invest $1.5 billion in the country over the next 5 years. The investment will fund an Asian R&D headquarters in Beijing, which, when fully operational, will employ 600 scientists. Merck views the R&D center as a source of new drugs for all markets, not just China."[What] we will be looking to do in China, as we do throughout the world, is identify opportunities to develop drugs to treat diseases that would be applicable globally. We see opportunities to include China in our worldwide clinical trials for our drugs and vaccines," Merck President Peter Kim told Reuters. The U.S. drugmaker will also use the site to bring its existing products to China.As well as infrastructure, the $1.5 billion will fund research from basic early discovery through to clinical trials. Merck, like many of its rivals, is particularly interested in the Chinese vaccine and diabetes markets. And, in a move also adopted by its peers, Merck has hooked up with a local company to help it enter the market. The Merck-Simcere joint venture will manufacture and sell branded drugs for diabetes and other diseases.For Merck to succeed it must capture market share. And with obesity-related Type 2 diabetes affecting one in 10 Chinese adults, it could even afford to sacrifice a little pricing power. "There continues to be [pricing] pressure in countries like China, … but what's key is the volume growth. And what we're trying to do is to ensure that there's significant opportunity for our volume to increase much faster than what the price pressure is, and that's how we've been successful," Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier said in a statement.Company: Novartis ($NVS)Investment: $1.25 billion over 5 yearsThemes: R&D and APIsNovartis went big on China in 2009 when it unveiled plans to invest $1.25 billion in the country. The cash was earmarked for hiring 1,000 staff and building an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility in Changshu. Now the strategy is around the halfway point, with Novartis having opened the API research, development and manufacturing center and added 280 new staff to its Shanghai R&D center.Hires have also been made at other Novartis units in China. And the rate is set to accelerate as Novartis moves ahead with plans to expand its operations. "Hiring will continue over the next few years as buildings on the new campus are completed. Phase one of the construction is under way and expected to be completed in 2015," a Novartis spokesperson told FierceBiotech.Former Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella began the push to expand in China before stepping down. Unveiling the $1.25 billion investment, Vasella told Business Week: "China has a dynamically growing economy, and they have lots of money and no debt. And then you have the willingness of the government to cover many more of its citizens. There will be growth."Vasella's successor, Joe Jimenez, has since taken up the same theme: "The best thing about China is that the market is growing substantially, so everyone is winning."Company: Roche ($RHHBY)Investment: $410 million over several yearsThemes: R&D and diagnosticsRoche takes a slightly different approach to China than its Big Pharma peers. Instead of treating China as a special case with a specific strategy, it addresses the country as part of its global plan. But that doesn't diminish its importance to Roche, and the Swiss drugmaker is stepping up its game in China. Just over 12 months ago Roche said it will make $100 million of additional investments in China in the next 5 years.The cash will go toward expanding the Roche R&D center in Shanghai--which employed 250 scientists preinvestment--and adding manufacturing capacity. "China is absolutely critical to our global strategy. It is a source of innovation. It is a key source of talent," Joe McCracken, global head of business development at Roche, told ChinaBio Today. The goal is to triple head count in China by 2020.Singling out China--or even emerging markets--for discussion is rare for Roche. But it has been quietly working at the opportunities. "You did not hear us spend that much time talking about emerging markets in the past, but I think we have been very successful with our strategies," Roche marketing chief David Loew said in a company statement. While the company talks of a global plan, it has tailored its strategy to China, notably through tiered pricing approaches.Herceptin is a good example. Roche spotted a growing segment of people who got initial treatment but could not afford to finish the regime. In response, Roche introduced a free period of treatment after the initial doses. "The introduction of these patient access programs … actually turned out to be a real trigger to increase access and eventually our sales," Roche CEO Severin Schwan said.Roche is also investing in its diagnostics business in China. In June, Roche committed to investing $310 million in China over the next few years to expand its presence in nine cities. New hires and offices are planned to help Roche make China its second biggest diagnostics market. The investment builds on work to increase the diagnostic testing rate in China and other emerging markets.Company: AstraZeneca ($AZN)Investment: $200 millionThemes: Branded generics and CRO collaborationIn the past few months AstraZeneca has made a flurry of moves in China as it plots a path to long-term growth. The headline-grabbing figure is the $200 million it is stumping up to build a new production plant in Taizho u. It is the most AstraZeneca has ever spent on a single production plant and represents a major signal of intent. Within days of outlining the investment, AstraZeneca reiterated its commitment to China by snapping up local drugmaker Guangdong BeiKang for an undisclosed fee.Buying Guangdong BeiKang cemented AstraZeneca as the second biggest multinational drugmaker in China behind its rival in the branded generics sector, Pfizer ($PFE). With consumers wary of substandard drugs, Big Pharma has spotted an opportunity in a threat. Now, the branded generics market is attracting almost as much interest as diabetes. And by expanding its portfolio and manufacturing footprint, AstraZeneca is trying to secure its position near the head of the pack."Our new plant in Taizhou, China--which is scheduled to start production in 2014--will produce branded generics, including products acquired with Guangdong BeiKang," a spokesperson for AstraZeneca told FierceBiotech. Anti-infectives, cardiovascular drugs and respiratory products are among the branded generics AstraZeneca plans to manufacture at the Taizhou plant. Some innovator drugs will also be transferred to the plant from an existing AstraZeneca site in Wuxi.AstraZeneca plans to boost efforts to bring new, innovative drugs to China by hiring 1,000 more people--across R&D, operations and commercial--by 2015. And the in-house R&D hiring push is being supported by closer collaboration with CROs, most notably a risk-sharing deal with WuXi PharmaTech. By joining with WuXi from early in development of a novel anti-inflammatory drug, AstraZeneca hopes to eliminate the lag associated with bringing new treatments to China. AstraZeneca also has an outsourcing deal with Chinese CRO Pharmaron.Each of the deals reflect the importance AstraZeneca now places on China. "AstraZeneca sees China as a critical part of our future success. We see increasing standards in healthcare as gross domestic product increases, people are living longer and unfortunately, there is also continued unmet medical need, due to a growing prevalence of chronic diseases," the spokesperson said.Company: Merck SeronoInvestment: $200 million over several yearsThemes: R&D and CRO collaborationOversight is a common concern of companies outsourcing to China. Time zones, culture, distance and language make the already tricky task of CRO oversight much harder. It's an issue that impacts on big, experienced outsourcers--Eli Lilly ($LL Y) reportedly brought some chemistry work back to Indianapolis after butting up against these obstacles.Merck Serono chose a different path though. Instead of bringing the CRO to its home, it went to theirs. It now has an R&D lab on the Pharmaron campus in Beijing. "The partnership with Pharmaron provides us access to the appropriate facilities, staff expertise and know how for our R&D activities in China," a Merck Serono spokesperson told FierceBiotech. Pharmaron will support Merck Serono trials with bioanalysis of clinical samples for pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic studies.Having invested $200 million to build and run the Beijing R&D hub for the next few years, Merck Serono is looking for a return on its spending. As well as benefiting from researchcapabilities in China, the Europe-based drugmaker expects the site to speed registration of drugs in the country, cutting the traditional lag.The R&D site also "demonstrates commitment to the marketplace, including government" and puts Merck Serono in proximity to local health authorities, the spokesperson said. Both could improve market access and are major--but often unstated--purposes of many Big Pharma investments in China.Investment in China comes at a time when Merck Serono is taking an ax to its operations in Europe. And with the news of the expansion and closure coming within months of each other, the shift from West to East is particularly apparent at Merck Serono. Beijing has displaced Geneva as a focal point. "China is a country with talented scientists and high-quality research, and we believe that the establishment of a R&D hub in China will allow strengthening our global R&D expertise and capabilities in a cost-efficient manner," the spokesperson said.Company: Pfizer ($PFE)Investment: $145 millionThemes: Branded generics and joint venturesPfizer knows better than most about lucrative generic opportunities. In recent years it has seen generics manufacturers line up to chip away at its blockbuster empire, leading to patent losses knocking billions of dollars off sales in 2012. Now, Pfizer wants to claw back some of those lost sales by selling branded generics in China."Providing high-quality, accessible and affordable health care to people over a vast area and from broad socioeconomic levels has become a primary objective of Chinese healthcare reforms, which is aligned with Pfizer's mission to provide high-quality and affordable medicines," Xiaobing Wu, manager of Pfizer China, said in a press release.Like AstraZeneca ($AZN), Pfizer hopes to capitalize on fears about substandard drugs by putting its name to a line of generics. And it has teamed up with local drugmaker Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical to target the opportunity. Hisun-Pfizer Pharmaceuticals aims to employ 1,000 people by next month. Rapid expansion will continue in 2013, when the venture plans to hire an additional 500 people.Pfizer has put forward 49% of the $295 million invested to get the venture off to a quick start. Chinese state-owned partner Hisun contributed the rest. Like many of its peers, Pfizer has joined with a local partner to ease its entry into the Chinese market. Pfizer also invested in Shanghai Pharma last year and has expressed an interest in inking more alliances.For now though the focus is on making the Hisun joint venture work. But differences between thetwo businesses make this particularly complex. "These are two totally different companies--one state-owned, the other one a big multinational. We need to balance the foreign and local culture, practice and mindset. That's a pretty big challenge for us," Kevin Xiao, CEO of the joint venture, told Bloomberg in September. If Big Pharma is to make the joint venture model work in China, it must overcome such obstacles.Company: Novo Nordisk ($NVO)Investment: $100 millionThemes: DiabetesAs one of the incumbent powers in the Chinese diabetes market,Novo Nordisk finds itself in the cross hairs of deep-pocketedrivals. But the Danish drugmaker isn't going down without a fight. It was among the first to make major moves in China--opening a research facility 15 years ago--and has continued to invest to fend off increasingly intense competition.The latest step is a $100 million expansion of its R&D center in Beijing. Novo has equipped the facility to handle a full range of protein research services and is adding 70 more scientists to perform the work. As the hires are made, head count will move upward of 200. The new hires will work with colleagues at other R&D hubs in Europe and the U.S., making China a central part of Novo's drug-development network.And more is still to come. Novo has room to further expand the Beijing facility and is also looking to invest in other areas. After Sanofi ($SNY) began training Chinese doctors last year, Novo COO Kaare Schultz sounded off in Bloomberg about his intentions to fight back. "You will see more manufacturing. You will see more education. You will see more training of patients. You will see more research locally," Schultz said.The talk of education and training give an insight into the game Big Pharma is playing in China. As in the U.K.--where Big Pharma is offering added-value services to healthcare providers--drugmakers in China are looking for novel ways to work with authorities. A diabetes training program, for example, could improve patient outcomes and cut state healthcare costs. In a competitive environment, the company behind such an initiative could gain an edge in market access.Company: Sanofi ($SNY)Investment: $90 millionThemes: DiabetesGlobally, Sanofi's diabetes drug Lantus is a huge product, bringing in $5 billion in 2011. But in China, the French drugmaker finds itself chasing Novo Nordisk ($NVO) and Bayer. The race has heated up in recent years, with Sanofi growing Lantus sales in China by two-thirds in 2011 on the back of being added to Beijing and Shanghai reimbursement lists. Now, the French drugmaker is trying to keep the pressure on with a multipronged attack.The headline investment is the $90 million Sanofi is spending to build a production plant in Beijing. Sanofi completed the first phase--covering assembly and packaging--in May. The next step is to add an aseptic insulin cartridge production line. When up and running, the plant will support Sanofi's expansion in China by turning out 48 million prefilled insulin pens a year.Sanofi's investment strategy goes beyond bricks and mortar though. Last year it joined with the Chinese Ministry of Health to run a diabetes management program. The 5-year initiative aims to develop 500 emerging diabetes experts, train 10,000 community doctors and help patients better manage diabetes. For China--a country facing huge healthcare challenges--the support of Sanofi could be a big help. And it is potentially a major boost for Sanofi's efforts to make Lantus the go-to diabetes drug in China. Sanofi is also working with the Chinese Diabetes Society on a project that could lead to the creation of the first Type 1 registry in the country.Undisclosed investments in these initiatives could prove at least as important to the fate of the $2.1 billion Chinese diabetes market as Sanofi's insulin-packaging plant. To make sure all bases are covered, Sanofi is giving China a starring role in global R&D too. Speaking last November, Sanofi CEO Chris Viehbacher said: "Cambridge is essentially one research hub. France will be a second research hub, Frankfurt a third, and China essentially a fourth hub."Company: Eli Lilly ($LL Y)Investment: $80 million, plus undisclosed R&D spendThemes: Diabetes and branded genericsEli Lilly was an early mover into China. Very early, in fact. Lilly hired a sales rep for Shanghai--its first outside the U.S.--in 1918. Yet despite the head start, Lilly is playing catch-up in a pivotal market: diabetes. And the importance of the market is such that Lilly is making big moves to increase its slice of the pie.Its latest push is the creation of a diabetes R&D center that employs 150 people. By locating the center in China, Lilly hopes to tailor its new diabetes drugs to the genetics of the population. And it is working with local academic centers and other partners to bring more expertise to the effort. Regular Lilly collaborator Covance is among the partners, with the CRO offering pharmacology studies and other services to the diabetes R&D hub. ShangPharma also remains a close partner, opening a facility dedicated to Lilly in January.The focus on collaborating to create innovative medicines that tackle major unmet needs shows Lilly is taking the high-risk strategy its is pursuing in the West to China. "Conquering a devastating disease like diabetes requires innovation, collaboration and investment. The establishment of the Lilly China Research and Development Center demonstrates we are serious about discovering and developing desperately needed breakthrough medicines for Chinese people with diabetes," Lilly EVP Jan Lundberg said in a company statement.Lilly was tight-lipped when asked how much it spent on the diabetes center but was more forthcoming with details of its insulin production plant. A Lilly spokesperson confirmed that the company spent $60 million on its "second packaging and warehousing facility in the 200-square-mile Suzhou Industrial Park." Lilly broke ground in 2005 and opened the second facility earlier this year.The insulin plant and R&D center reflect the decision of CEO John Lechleiter to make diabetes one of two primary markets for Lilly in China, the other being cancer. In both sectors Lilly is aiming to grow rapidly by developing innovative drugs to treat major unmet needs. But Lilly is willing to get involved at the other end of the market too and has made investments in a local branded generics partner. The latest saw the U.S. drugmaker back Novast with $20 million. Lilly will work with Novast to improve drug production quality at the Chinese plants and outsource manufacture of some branded generics to its partnerCompany: GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK)Investment: ~$63 millionThemes: Vaccines and joint venturesThe experience of GlaxoSmithKline shows one possible scenario for the joint ventures set up by Pfizer and other Big Pharma players. GSK formed a vaccine venture with a $34 million investment in 2009. At that stage GSK owned 40% of the business, with its Chinese partner, Shenzhen Neptunus Interlong Bio-Technique, controlling the rest. GSK upped its stake to 49% in 2010 and bought out the remaining 51% a year later.Taking this stepwise approach to setting up a vaccine manufacturing operation in China allowed GSK to test the waters while benefiting from the local knowledge of its partner. After getting the joint venture off the ground, the British drugmaker moved quickly to take total control. Having become the sole owner of the pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccine business, GSK plans to invest in local production capacity."GSK has licensed more vaccines in China than any other global manufacturer and has packaged more than 100 million vaccines at our Shanghai facility. [The buyout] represents an expansion of GSK's long-term commitment to vaccine supply, manufacturing and development in China," GSK VP John Lepore said last year in a company statement.。