800 square meters of booths, six product segments, dozens of innovative prescription drugs, vaccines and consumer health products, including a number of blockbuster new drugs that have just been introduced into China... At the 4th China International Import Expo, which opened in Shanghai on November 5, the veteran multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) once again carefully prepared and unveiled the "magic weapon of housekeeping".
In the view of Qi Xin, vice president of GSK and general manager of prescription drugs and vaccines in China, ciie is an excellent platform to showcase innovation and promote cooperation. "With each participation, we will not only showcase innovative products, but also promote the implementation of cooperation projects with local partners and jointly promote the construction of a medical and health ecosystem that integrates medical care and prevention."
GSK is a pharmaceutical giant with a history of more than 300 years, and is a leading position in the global pharmaceutical field, with business covering nearly 100 countries and regions.
As one of the first batch of foreign pharmaceutical companies to enter China after the reform and opening up, gsk has listed nearly 20 innovative drugs and vaccines in China in response to the complex and urgent medical and health needs of the people in recent years, involving respiratory, central nervous system, hepatitis B antiviral therapy, AIDS, vaccines, special drugs and other key areas, with a business layout in China to 250 cities, and established five regional centers, three production bases, an infectious disease research institute, an R&D center, and a national commercial operation center in China.
Today, China is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world and is expected to become the world's largest medical service market. GSK's emphasis on the Chinese market has naturally increased. In January 2020, gsk China broke with the previous practice of appointing expatriates as general managers and appointed its first local general manager, Qi Xin.
Qi Xin, who has been a foreign pharmaceutical company since the 1990s, joined gsk China in 2004 and has served in management positions in multiple business departments such as marketing and sales, and is considered to be an all-round "general" cultivated within gsk China's local system, with a capable and pragmatic style. Her main job since taking office has been to fully unleash the commercialization potential of GSK China's innovative products and become an engine for accelerated growth.
△ Qi Xin, vice president of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and general manager of prescription drugs and vaccines in China
GSK China under the leadership of Qi Xin is in the process of great changes in the Chinese market environment. On the one hand, in the face of competition from local pharmaceutical companies; on the other hand, under the national policy of encouraging pharmaceutical and equipment innovation, the speed of imported innovative drugs on the market in China is also accelerating.
Many of the new products of the gsk pipeline are quite competitive in the market, and its talents are gathered as a result, and the development is accelerating.
"We will further leverage our strengths and expertise in the field of prescription drugs and vaccines, and work with our Chinese partners to continuously improve the accessibility of high-quality medical resources." Nearly two years after taking up his new position, Qi Xin is full of confidence in GSK's prospects in the Chinese market.
The product layout of the whole line meets the needs of the Chinese market
Every year, the Ciie Expo is a stage for multinational pharmaceutical companies to concentrate on displaying their strength. As one of the few pharmaceutical companies whose business covers both prevention (vaccine) and treatment (drug), gsk brought to the Expo this year, in addition to the "three musketeers of vaccines" (hepatitis B vaccine An Zaishi, bivalent HPV vaccine Xi Ruishi, recombinant shingles vaccine Xinanlishi), as well as the single-tablet AIDS dual-drug treatment plan Doveto that has just been approved for listing in China this year, and the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (its lupus nephritis indications are also expected to be approved in China in the near future), The world's first blockbuster product such as the target human interleukin-5 biologics new Kolai that has been approved for multiple indications.
△GSK booth of the 4th CIIE
Among them, since the recombinant herpes zoster vaccine was officially launched in China in June 2020, it has covered 3,800 vaccination sites in 250 cities across the country, benefiting more than 100,000 adults over the age of 50. Quan Zai Le, a triple inhaled preparation for the treatment of stable COPD, was included in the national medical insurance directory in 2020 and has entered more than 1,500 large and medium-sized medical institutions in the past year.
With the promotion of the "strong grassroots" policy of the new medical reform, gsk China is also sinking to the grassroots through a series of innovative cooperation projects. For example, the GSK-supported COPD graded diagnosis and treatment standardization promotion project "Happy Breathing" has built the most extensive COPD graded diagnosis and treatment path in the country to improve the capacity of COPD graded diagnosis and treatment. As of August 2021, the "Happy Breathing" project has completed three phases of phases of phased results, covering 29 cities in 24 provinces, and completing nearly 600 online and offline doctor education.
Eight Points: For innovative products and mature products that have already occupied a large market in the past, how is gsk laid out in the Chinese market?
Qi Xin: GSK's product line is particularly wide, choose which product to introduce, mainly refer to the local disease spectrum. In view of the health needs of the people, using our R&D advantages, gsk mainly laid out these core areas in the Chinese market:
In terms of adult vaccines, GSK has launched hpv vaccines in China, and plans to introduce respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines and an innovative B meningitis vaccine in the future.
In the field of chronic infectious diseases, we will continue to cultivate the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. We have a landmark new product, gsk836, which is expected to achieve a functional cure for hepatitis B, and this year has entered the "Breakthrough Treatment Variety List" of the National Drug Evaluation Center.
In the field of HIV, gsk continues to list various antiviral products in China. Some mature products have also been incorporated into national collections for free treatment of AIDS. Our innovative products, in addition to Doveto, followed by a long-acting injectable integrase inhibitor carbotwei, only need to be injected once a month or every 2 months, for patients to comply with the treatment and quality of life will have a great improvement.
Special drugs are the field that every innovative company will lay out. In addition to Beliten (beliyuzumab), GSK next plans to list a new Kelai (Mepolilizumab) in China.
The tumor pipeline has also been strategically repositioned, focusing more on new drugs in oncology and immunity. At present, GSK has 14 new oncology products under development worldwide, and we have also established a strategic planning project for the Chinese oncology business to accelerate drug development. In the coming years, GSK may first market B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) for the treatment of multiple myeloma in China.
Eight Points: Because of the new crown, everyone is paying more and more attention to vaccines. From your point of view, what are the pain points in the development of vaccine product lines or industries in China? Does gsk have a corresponding solution?
Qi Xin: China's childhood immunization program is particularly well done, and the production capacity can ensure that more than 90% of children can be vaccinated. The prevalence of adult vaccinations varies widely, which is caused by a variety of reasons.
First of all, the research and development varieties of vaccines are still very few compared with drugs, and the research and development threshold for really making technological breakthroughs and finding the best vaccine for each type of infectious disease is particularly high. We believe that in the future, vaccines can be used not only for prevention, but also for treatment. GSK is also developing therapeutic vaccines in the fields of oncology, HIV, and hepatitis B.
Second, vaccine introduction is more complex than prescription drugs. China's policy on prescription drug products can be developed simultaneously, but given that vaccines are a preventive product, regulations now require that clinical trials in China be carried out only after they have been approved abroad.
China's adult vaccination also faces two major challenges: First, the public's general awareness of the importance and urgency of vaccination is still shallow. There is still much room for public acceptance of vaccines to prevent diseases and the value of vaccines.
Second, the convenience of adult vaccination in China still needs to be improved. In China, the disease prevention system and treatment system are relatively independent, and vaccines can only be delivered at local CDCs and community health service stations. But for adults, the first choice is often a top three hospital. To this end, we call for the opening up of the two major systems of prevention and treatment, so that more adults can obtain vaccines in formal medical institutions, which is also one of the directions of efforts to expand China's vaccine market in the future.
Eight Points: Now that GSK has given the impression to the outside world that there are many product lines, what work have you done to adapt to business development since you became the general manager of prescription drugs and vaccines?
Qi Xin: According to the strategic plan, we have subdivided the business segments. Prescription drugs and vaccines have five business sectors, which just conform to the next five product lines: one is the vaccine sector; the second is the core prescription drugs, mainly chronic hepatitis B and central nervous system disease treatment drugs; the third is the respiratory plate, which is the traditional business of gsk; the fourth is the newly established special drug sector with the listing of Beliton in 2019, after the listing of Xinkelai, this business will continue to expand; fifth, the HIV sector, this year it has become a separate business unit, focusing on the promotion of new HIV products, including further cooperation with the government Promote public health projects such as AIDS prevention.
In terms of personnel, the business leaders of the five major sectors are either locally trained or transferred to Chinese leaders in the Chinese-speaking areas of the Asia-Pacific region. The advantage is that they understand Chinese culture, understand the Chinese market, and can communicate more effectively with the team, thereby improving operational efficiency.
Entering the acceleration period, how to promote localization?
In recent years, China's pharmaceutical market has undergone earth-shaking changes. On the one hand, residents' demand for high-quality medical and health services continues to grow, and at the same time, with the economic and social development, local pharmaceutical companies, especially innovative pharmaceutical companies, continue to rise; in addition, medical insurance negotiations and volume procurement are vigorously promoted, and the "new normal" at the policy level has become the norm; moreover, the rapid development of pharmaceutical e-commerce, the diversification of drug sales channels, and the superposition of various factors have brought a profound change to the entire pharmaceutical industry.
For foreign pharmaceutical companies, the importance of the Chinese market is unquestionable, promoting localization, further deepening the Chinese market, and using the Chinese market as an engine to drive global innovation and business growth, almost becoming a common choice – including gsk of course.
Eight points of good news: Now the domestic substitution is gradually changing the competitive landscape of the pharmaceutical industry and the equipment industry, many multinational companies have formulated localization strategies, does gsk have any thinking or layout on this issue?
Qi Xin: At present, our business in China is "walking on two legs". First of all, we hope to give full play to the advantages of foreign enterprises, introduce industry-leading innovative products into China, and seize the opportunity as much as possible. Secondly, innovation is the core competitiveness of GSK, but the price of innovative products also needs to be more competitive.
It is great to see that this year's gsk's Anfoda (dutasteride) was able to enter the collection with the first pick and very competitive price. This also allows us to see that as long as we can control costs well, we will have more confidence in participating in national procurement in the future, thereby improving the accessibility of drugs.
Some of gsk's classic mature products will not lose the market because of imitations, because the health needs of the Chinese market are diversified. The most important thing is to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Eight points of jianwen: There are many products into the collection will face the problem of volume and price, and the impact on the channel is also very large. At present, what is the proportion of gsk's collection products in the hospital? Have other market channels also expanded?
Qi Xin: Usually when drugs successfully enter the collection catalogue, the hospital will ensure a certain demand. But now the pharmaceutical retail channels have been diversified, in addition to a large part of the patient's demand sinking to the county-level hospital, professional pharmaceutical e-commerce is also emerging, and now ali, Jingdong, and even Meituan can buy drugs online. GSK has now also set up a dedicated team to manage these non-hospital channels, hoping to sink quality products further.
Eight Points: In the past, foreign companies in China were more engaged in drug development than basic research and development, what role does gsk China R&D center play now?
Qi Xin: The main responsibility of the China R&D Center now is to introduce foreign innovative products into China, and we will also cooperate with external local partners in research and development. In the field of prescription drugs, we use the form of simultaneous research and development. To this end, we have set up a future product strategy team to evaluate the needs of relevant product indications in China.
Because GSK attaches great importance to the Chinese market, the voice of the Chinese market in innovative products has increased significantly. gsk China can assess whether the drugs or corresponding indications under development abroad meet the needs of the Chinese market. If the answer is yes, the China R&D Center in Pudong will be involved in R&D together with the headquarters, even from the first phase of the trial.
Eight points of good news: In the past two years, with more and more new products, GSK's attractiveness to industry talents has also increased. Facing the moment of starting again, how do you hope gsk will develop in the future?
Qi Xin: GSK has been working in China for more than 100 years and has been witnessing and actively participating in the reform and opening up of China's medical industry. The Chinese market is one of the most important markets in the world, and we are always thinking about new corporate strategies and new business models with a view to deeply rooted in China.
GSK attaches great importance to sustainable development, and we hope that in the future, we will truly develop the Chinese market with our core competitiveness. We have now entered a state of acceleration: First, the number of new products continues to increase, the speed of listing in China has also increased significantly, in the past, after a new product was approved overseas, it basically took 5 to 10 years to enter China, and now it has been shortened to 1 to 2 years; at the same time, gsk is also committed to synchronous research and development. New GSK's culture is "patient-minded" and we need to be more patient-centered while also attaching great importance to our impact on global health.