Novartis to invest more in Chinese mainland, senior executives say

Global pharmaceutical leader Novartis will deepen its investment in China, buoyed by an accelerating innovation ecosystem and regulatory reforms in the country, two senior executives said.

During a recent interview with China Daily, Shreeram Aradhye, president of development and chief medical officer, and Patrick Horber, president of its international unit, expressed strong confidence in the Chinese market and emphasized the company's commitment to local collaboration in research, development, and commercialization.

"The world now sees China as not only a fast follower to other innovation, but also a source of new ideas and first-in-class molecules," Aradhye said.

In the past year, the country accounted for around one-third of global biotech deals, he said.

In particular, Aradhye noted "increasing progress" at all levels of the innovation supply chain in China — "whether it's finding molecules, whether it's doing the early work for defining their biology and then participation in clinical trials across a breadth of therapeutic areas".

This positive sentiment aligns with recent policy and market trends.

On Sept 11, China's National Medical Products Administration unveiled a new policy measure, cutting the maximal clinical trial review waiting period for key innovative medicines to 30 working days, from 60 working days previously.

According to Morgan Stanley Research, annual revenue from drugs originating in China could jump to an estimated $34 billion by 2030 and $220 billion by 2040, and China is projected to account for 35 percent of approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration by 2040, up from only 5 percent currently.

Chinese biotech companies are increasingly developing novel drugs in areas of high value, including treatments for cancer, diabetes and obesity. Global pharmaceutical companies may look for licensing partnerships in China to supplement their drug portfolios, the research facility said.

Thanks to the speed and quality gains stemming from ecosystem advances and government efforts to accelerate clinical trial application approvals, Novartis' collaborations with local partners in China have become much more productive, Aradhye said.

"Because of the innovation, (and) received priority review, just this year so far, we have had nine new approvals, either new products or new indications," the executive said, adding that more than 100 clinical trials are ongoing for Novartis in China.

Horber, meanwhile, noted the company's long-term strategic focus on China.

China, its second-biggest market after the United States, is not only an expanding market for the company's products, but also as a source of collaboration for new innovation, he said.

To capitalize on this momentum, Novartis has intensified its local partnerships.

For instance, the company has deepened its collaboration with Beijing Anzhen Hospital, including conducting workshops that explain siRNA technology, or small interfering RNA technology, and its role in reducing cardiovascular risk.

It has also licensed innovations from Chinese biotech firms, like the siRNA technology from Shanghai-based Argo Biopharma.

SiRNA technology is a method that uses short, double-stranded RNA molecules to silence harmful genes without changing DNA permanently, thereby helping to stop diseases from spreading or causing damage.

"Looking into the future, we see here (in China) significant potential to further collaborate on the one hand with policymakers, and on the other, probably even more important, being an innovative pharmaceutical company, to really collaborate as well here with the biotech cluster, which you see is growing and creating innovation," Horber said.

"If I look into our investments in China, the first thing is really to focus on our four core therapeutic areas, thus bringing innovation here to patients in China as a valued and trusted healthcare partner. And almost simultaneously, we're bringing innovation (from China) as well into other geographies, either Europe or the United States."

During the first half of the year, Novartis registered $2.2 billion in revenue in China, a growth of 8 percent year-on-year.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn