Drugs and vaccines from Sanofi on the fast track

Sanofi, the world's leading healthcare company, said it will speed up the pace to list innovative drugs and vaccines exhibited at the first China International Import Expo as early as possible in China.

The company will collaborate with partners to achieve that goal, and will make efforts to provide new drugs to community health centers and county-level hospitals, it said during the China Health Road Forum it held on Wednesday at the expo.

"We sincerely thank the Chinese government for its determination and effort to accelerate the approval of innovative drugs, and we pay tribute to all experts, especially healthcare practitioners, for their consistent support," said Jean-Christophe Pointeau, country chair of Sanofi China.

"We will gear up the introduction of innovative drugs and vaccines in China, and catch up with Europe and the United States in the listing schedules to benefit as many Chinese patients as possible."

Six rare-disease drugs and new vaccines from the company made their debut at the expo, including Dupixent, the first and only targeted biological agent approved in the US and European Union for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in adults. Last month it was approved for asthma indication in the US.

Aubagio, the first new oral drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a rare disease of the nervous system characterized by loss of feeling and control of movement and speech, has been launched in China just prior to the expo, taking only 58 days from approval to launch and setting a record thanks to Chinese authorities' accelerated approval for new drug listings and launches, the company said.

Representatives from the China Preventive Medicine Association, the Association of China County Hospital Presidents and county-level health authorities shared their experience and feelings about being "county-level health gatekeepers".

Establishing a tiered diagnosis and treatment system so 90 percent of patients do not have to pack top comprehensive hospitals, and can instead receive professional treatment in community or county-level hospitals, is one of the priorities for China's healthcare reform, said Kong Lingzhi, vice president of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association.

Sanofi said it is actively responding to calls of Chinese health authorities and is collaborating with industry societies and associations in a wide range of disease areas to help build the tiered diagnosis and treatment system. It has teamed up with the Stroke Prevention Project Committee under the country's National Health Commission and the Association of China County Hospital Presidents to jointly build a national network for the prevention and control of stroke and chest pain.