Brand-new GSK makes its debut at 5th CIIE

GSK officially unveiled its main booth today at the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE). This marks the company's "China debut" after its global demerger and image rebranding.

This year, GSK brings to the CIIE its transformational drugs and vaccines from five business units, including vaccines, respiratory, specialty medicines, HIV and core pharma, thus kicking off a new mission to "unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together."

By doubling down on the Chinese market and sharing new opportunities for development, GSK will continue to bring forward transformational vaccines and drugs to Chinese patients and expand the health impact.

For GSK, the impact of the CIIE goes beyond an industry exhibition. The company has witnessed and profited from the event's spillover effects over the last five years.

"The CIIE is not only an accelerator for the introduction and delivery of innovations in China but also a platform where multiple parties work together to stabilize economic growth," said Cecilia Qi, vice president and general manager of GSK China.

The company has effectively hastened the introduction of a number of "first-in-China" and "best-in-class" products and has been able to reach out to more Chinese patients as a result of the "China CIIE Speed."

Last year, the CIIE saw the introduction of Nucala (mepolizumab), a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-5 (IL-5) for the treatment of adult patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).

Following Nucala's debut at the CIIE last year, it received official approval from the National Medical Products Administration immediately thereafter, and it was commercially introduced in June and prescribed in China in July this year.

Cabotegravir + rilpivirine long-acting (CAB+RPV LA) regimen, a complete long-acting regimen for vireologically suppressed HIV-1 adult patients, makes its "China debut" at the CIIE this year.

In addition, GSK's blockbuster products, which have been showcased in the previous CIIEs, encore this year but with newly approved indications.

"We're encouraged to see solid progress in the previous years with our latest innovative products being approved, which also served as our most important growth driver," Qi said.

In recent years, the company actively responded to the call to continuously improve the geographic and population coverage of its innovative products and solutions by leveraging the CIIE platform and working with partners to jointly promote a healthy China.

It has partnered with Yinchuan Health Commission for its digital healthcare management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The long-running "Happy Breath" initiative, which aims to improve doctors' skills in COPD diagnosis and treatment, has been upgraded and its partnership successfully extended at this year's CIIE.

"We obviously feel the need to be deeply rooted here in the huge market which could potentially become the largest healthcare market around the globe," she said.

The company promises to uphold its promise to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people over the next ten years.

In China, the national orientation and measures to combine illness prevention and treatment with a focus on primary healthcare are also quite encouraging, which echoes to the product layout of GSK in China.

GSK provides protection against infectious diseases at all stages of life, including meningitis, shingles, flu, polio, measles, and many more. It aspires to offer cutting-edge treatments through continuous research and development programs in oncology, HIV, immunology, and respiratory and infectious diseases.

In three to five years, China is expected to overtake Japan as GSK's most important regional market in the China & Intercontinental region.

The new GSK wants to more than double its China business in two to three years by focusing on essential areas and continuing expansion.

"We have high expectations of the Chinese market with our focus on important priorities and continued expansion, and we will keep up our endeavor to accelerate access to innovative products and high-quality medical resources to meet the needs of Chinese people," Qi said.