Pharma firms to be major players at CIIE
Pharmaceutical companies will seek new opportunities at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) to work with government authorities, as well as domestic and foreign corporations.
Those who return for the second and even third time at the CIIE said the platform is crucial to reach potential collaborators.
Leon Wang, executive vice president of AstraZeneca, said his company looks to strike deals with provincial-level governments and is setting up regional headquarters to strengthen local efforts.
"We hope to expand the influence of CIIE so small and medium-sized firms with new treatments can find their way to China by collaborating with AstraZeneca's existing resources," Wang said.
In the next five years, AstraZeneca plans to add 1,000 new research positions in a new research and development center in Jing'an District.
AstraZeneca’s 1,000-square-meter exhibition booth at the upcoming CIIE will be one of the largest booths in the medical apparatus and health-care exhibit area.
AstraZeneca's 14 holistic disease-management solutions presented at the last two events have been implemented in more than 4,300 hospitals nationwide, benefiting more than 10 million Chinese patients.
French lens and visual-health group Essilor, which is also returning for the third year, will bring children's ophthalmological lens that can slow down the progression of myopia.
"We have reached a number of milestone partnership at the previous CIIEs and since then we have upgraded our offering and eye-care solution," said Louis Chen, vice president of Instruments at Essilor China.
"The speed of the implementation of our partnership with local stakeholders, such as eyeglass chain store operators, colleges and research institutions, has been picking up steadily after initial intentions were reached at the CIIE," she noted.
Pfizer's 750-square-meter booth at CIIE will exhibit products and ongoing research in oncology, vaccines, anti-inflammatory, immunotherapy and rare diseases.
In July, Pfizer's lorlatinib, a new treatment for certain types of non-small cell lung cancer, was given to patients on a trial basis at the Boao Hengda International Hospital in Hainan Province following an agreement reached at last year's CIIE with the Hainan government.
"We hope CIIE will be a platform to call for regulatory authorities and industry counterparts to join hands and expedite the introduction of new vaccines," said Che Yan, vaccine sales lead at Pfizer Biopharma Group China. "We also hope to fully leverage this occasion and achieve simultaneous new vaccine launches in China and the rest of the world."
China's vaccine market lags behind overseas markets, although new drug approvals have been catching up in recent years thanks to expedited review processes.
Pfizer reached an agreement earlier this year to promote CanSino Biologics' meningitis vaccine candidate in China, and Che said she hopes similar partnerships with local players will follow.
Beauty aesthetics firm Allergan Aesthetics, a unit of American biopharmaceutical firm Abbvie, plans to unveil a partnership with Microsoft, using artificial intelligence to provide diagnosis and assessment of aesthetic surgeries.
“We hope to leverage this platform to connect with industry partners and launch new initiatives to call for the adoption of standardized and authorized plastic surgery," said White Wang, vice president of Allergan Aesthetics Japan and Asia Pacific.
Tapping into the booming demand for professional skincare services, the company also plans to launch a new facial cream product line along with medical aesthetics services and products at CIIE.
China is already Allergan's second-largest market outside the United States, and its plans to launch one or two new products in China every year.
