Drug research boom in China

China is becoming one of the most important countries in the world for clinical pharmaceutical research, according to a new market report.

The Kline & Company report found that the world’s leading drug makers are already including China in their research plans and the Chinese authorities are making systemic improvements to push on future growth in the number and scope of clinical drug trials.

Li Wang, author of the report and Kline’s Shanghai office managing director, said: “By 2010, China is predicted to be the fifth-largest pharmaceutical market in the world.

“As China improves its clinical resources and regulatory processes, it’s becoming an increasingly competitive market for major clinical trials.”

At the end of 2004 there were 250 trials in progress in China, an increase of 25 per cent since 2002, and AstraZeneca and Roche along with other companies have established clinical trial centres there.

Wenli Ding, a Kline healthcare consultant, identified why China was an attractive area to carry out trials.

He said: “Because the Chinese population is mostly concentrated in metropolitan areas that include formerly state-run hospitals, this provides for a large pool of potential patients with ready access to high-quality hospitals that qualify as clinical study centre.

“Conversely, there are also significant numbers of the rural poor, or patients who otherwise do not have access to medical care, who often seek out clinical trials as a way to obtain treatment.

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