MSD China sticks to its plan of reaching 100 million lives

Ti Gong

MSD China said it would continue to make progress toward its strategic plan in China with the goal of reaching 100 million lives, MSD China President Joseph Romanelli said in Shanghai yesterday. 

“China has had a dynamic year in the healthcare sector in 2017, with new rules unveiled to support the introduction of innovative drugs and healthcare reform,” he commented. 

Last year the company outlined its China Strategy 1-2-3, which includes reaching 100 million lives in China over the next five years, launching two new products each year, and becoming a top three company in China in terms of revenue. 

Part of the Health China 2030 Plan unveiled by the State Council in 2016 calls for disease prevention, and MSD China also wants to be a part of that process. 

Since last year, the company has distributed its HPV vaccine, Gardasil 4, through its distributor Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co on China’s mainland. 

Romanelli said that the company is confident it will achieve its goals for expanding market presence in 2018, without elaborating on details. 

Unlike overseas markets, MSD doesn't have a long history of marketing and selling vaccines, so it would continue to leverage off the infrastructure, expertise and relationships of local partners to better understand the regulatory environment and its customers. 

“We view that as the fastest way to eradicate cervical cancer as our partner has the capability of getting the information to the right customers," Romanelli added. 

It entered into a strategic partnership with AliHealth to expand opportunities under the Internet Plus framework to provide individualized healthcare and disease education for potential target consumer groups. 

For the initial stage of collaboration, the two parties aim to leverage AliHealth’s internet ecosystem to reach 120 million adult women within the target age group across 240 cities, with the aim of promoting the adult preventative vaccination concept to accelerate the reduction of cervical cancer in China, as well as reducing the mortality rate.

“MSD is echoing the ‘Health China 2030’ plan to strengthen management and put the prevention-first concept into action,” he noted.