Company Special: Techpool transforms into international player

Techpool aims to make significant changes throughout its production lines, marketing, hardware and software. Photos Provided To China Daily

Techpool Bio-Pharma Co has experienced tremendous changes in the past three year under the leadership of its new chief executive officer, transforming from a traditional private Chinese company to an international player.

Before Henry Lee took office in 2011, he was the senior executive in many leading companies in the pharmaceutical field, including Novartis and Eisai, with more than 20 years successful management experience in both China and the Asia-Pacific region.

"I chose Techpool because of its huge development potential. Also, it had a pure, positive and healthy corporate culture, which was different from what I imagined, as I thought most Chinese private companies have complex and chaotic personal relations," Lee said.

It also had more comprehensive development than most Chinese private companies, with research and production capacities and a sales and marketing team nationwide.

However, "the business model the company implemented at that time could not support its sustainable development", he said.

The company made significant changes, from its production lines to marketing, hardware and software.

"Last year, we realized production based on the current standards for good manufacture practices, or China's new GMP standards, the first of their kind in Guangdong province where Techpool is headquartered," Lee said.

The new GMP standards are world-leading standards for pharmaceutical, medical device and food manufacturers in their production and testing of products. They are comparable with EU GMP standards.

"We also introduced the six sigma program to improve our management level," he said. Six sigma is a management method developed by Motorola Inc that emphasizes setting extremely high objectives, collecting data and analyzing results to a fine degree as a way to reduce defects in products and services.

"Our production team discovered its shortcomings by learning these advanced international standards," he said. The company established a raw materials plant in Nansha district in the provincial capital Guangzhou to support its long-term business strategy. The plant will be completed this year.

The transformation of its commercial operations lasted three years. The company had only a sales department before, but now it has a systematic medical marketing approach that involves many departments.

Techpool has also improved its systems of finance, IT and performance evaluation, as well as now having stricter risk management.

"We have learned many experiences from foreign companies, but we did not just follow suit. We only adopt those which are suitable for Techpool," Lee said.

"Challenges and questioning are inevitable during such a process. Some colleagues left and some clients ended their cooperation with us, and we also had a period of negative growth in sales in 2012, but we held firm and finally made it," he added.

Lee said the past three years were spent laying foundations for Techpool, to make it qualified to realize rapid development in the future. The company is targeting an annual growth in sales revenue of over 20 percent annual growth by 2018.

"We have a vision, that is, to become one of the most respected and preferred leading biopharmaceutical partner of the critical care community," Lee said. China has a larger space for the development of the sector than the US and European countries.

"Intensive care unit beds account for 3 to 5 percent of the total in China, but 11 percent in advanced foreign countries. We also lack experts in the field," he said.

For example, Lee said, the number of stroke sufferers in China has continued to grow while the average age of those patients has become younger.

"Techpool has innovative medicine for the disease, but we also want to develop an all-round solution based on the situation in China.

We hope to provide services and products in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation," he said.

The company also has a medicine for bone-related diseases caused by tumors.

In 2011, Techpool started to export its medicines to explore the international market.

"We have obtained regulatory approval in India, and have filed an application in Russia. We will tap into more advanced markets when we have enough experience and capabilities," he said.

For other Chinese private pharmaceutical companies who wish to become more international, Lee suggested they cooperate with foreign and local companies in research and innovation, and also learn advanced decision-making and corporate management systems.

Contact the writers at haonan@chinadaily.com.cn and qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn