Shanghai sets pharmaceutical industry development goals for 2012
Shanghai. August 4. INTERFAX-CHINA - The Shanghai municipal government has released its development plan for Shanghai's pharmaceutical industry from 2009 to 2012, it announced on Aug. 3.
According to the announcement, the municipal government aims for Shanghai's pharmaceutical industry to achieve a total output value of RMB 200 billion ($29.28 billion) by 2012, double from that in 2008, with the manufacturing sector contributing RMB 85 billion ($12.45 billion), the service outsourcing sector contributing RMB 15 billion ($2.20 billion) and the retail trading sector contributing RMB 100 billion ($14.64 billion).
From 2009 to 2012, the Shanghai municipal government will support 200 innovative pharmaceutical companies each with an annual output value exceeding RMB 200 million ($29.28 million) and develop 100 pharmaceutical products each with annual sales revenue exceeding RMB 100 million ($14.64 million).
In addition, the government hopes that pharmaceutical companies will invest over 3.5 percent of their sales revenue into research and development (R & D) by 2012. Presently, R & D investment by domestic biopharmaceutical companies average between 1.5 percent and 2 percent of total sales revenue.
"There is great potential for China's pharmaceutical industry to develop in the next five years, especially given that the central government will be investing RMB 1 trillion ($146.41 billion) towards the basic medical insurance programs over the next three years, causing domestic drug demand to increase by between 15 percent and 20 percent per year during the period," Guo Fanli, an analyst from China Investment Consulting Co. Ltd., told Interfax on Aug. 4.
-YCX