On November 26th, China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial and Pfizer officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement, in which Pfizer will hand over the commercial operation of four heavyweight cancer products in China to China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial.

01. China Resources wins commercial promotion authorization for four heavyweight cancer drugs
On November 26th, China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial and Pfizer officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement, in which Pfizer will hand over the commercial operation of four heavyweight cancer products in China to China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial.

According to the "Pharmaceutical Representative", the cooperation will officially begin on December 1st. Employees affected by this cooperation will go to Shanghai for offline communication, and the final employee placement will be completed by the end of next month.
The four drugs involved in this transaction have been in the Chinese market for many years, namely AROMASIN, IBRANCE, Pharmarubicin RD, and XALKORI.

Among them, Famax was first listed in China in 1998, mainly for the treatment of breast cancer and lung cancer. According to data from MineNet, the terminal sales of injectable epirubicin hydrochloride in public medical institutions in China will exceed 900 million yuan in 2023, with Pfizer holding 51.49% of the market share.

AROMASIN is mainly used for the treatment of breast cancer. Among the sample public hospitals in the PDB database, a total of 4 companies sold exemestane preparations in 2023, with a total amount of approximately 923 million yuan. Among them, 3 local companies accounted for less than 5% of the market share, and Pfizer accounted for the remaining 96%.

As the first generation ALK inhibitor product in the field of lung cancer treatment, Pfizer's original research product, Sacrolizumab, has long dominated the market. According to data from Pharmaron Cloud, the nationwide in-hospital sales of crizotinib capsules reached its peak in 2020, with approximately 989 million yuan. However, with the approval of the second-generation ALK targeted drug, its market share has gradually been divided. The patent for the crizotinib compound in China expires this year, and the first prototype was obtained by Wanbang Pharmaceutical in November last year.

Aibo New is used to treat breast cancer and was approved in China in 2018. It is the first CDK4/6 inhibitor in China. At present, the patent for Pembrolizumab has expired in China, and Pfizer is facing the impact of generic drugs from companies such as Qilu, Haosen, and Qingfeng, as well as competition for the CDK4/6 inhibitor market from companies such as Novartis' Rabosinib and Eli Lilly's Abexili. Its global sales in 2023 and the first half of 2024 have both declined year-on-year. Piperacillin has appeared in the tenth batch of national procurement catalog, and further price reductions are inevitable.

02. More MNC authorization transactions may occur in the future
China is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world, expected to exceed a trillion yuan scale by 2025. For large multinational pharmaceutical companies worldwide, the revenue share of the Chinese market is crucial. Original research drug companies benefit from their first mover advantage and often quickly occupy the vast majority of market share in related fields in the early stages.

However, from the recent development of Pfizer's four heavyweight cancer drugs, it can be seen that with changes in pharmaceutical policies and economic forms, the Chinese pharmaceutical market environment is becoming increasingly complex, and the difficulty of drug promotion is increasing.

In this context, choosing to cooperate with local distribution enterprises may optimize the supply chain and reduce operating costs to a certain extent, enhance the penetration rate of multinational pharmaceutical companies in the Chinese market, especially in low tier cities and primary healthcare institutions, avoid market access barriers and policy changes, and concentrate resources on core advantageous areas such as new drug research and development.

For this cooperation, CR Pharma Commercial stated that it will fully leverage its extensive market coverage and well-established distribution network advantages to enable Pfizer's mature drugs to quickly reach a wider range of patient groups; Pfizer said that it would continue to increase its investment in the field of cancer, continue to dig into the global high incidence cancers such as lung cancer, breast cancer, urinary system tumors, and blood tumors, accelerate the research and development of innovative drugs and provide revolutionary treatment plans.

In addition to Pfizer and China Resources, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sinopharm Group have also reached a cooperation agreement recently - starting from January 1st next year, BI's Senfipronil (Pramipexole) and Tibetaxel (Dabigatran etexil) will be promoted by Sinopharm Group.

Guokong stated that it will leverage its nationwide network and resource advantages, closely focusing on market demand, to provide comprehensive and high-quality full supply chain services for BI; BI believes that this collaboration will enable it to concentrate resources on further developing innovative product lines in areas such as stroke, inflammation immunity, and pulmonary fibrosis, while also preparing adequately for future new products that will be launched.

For pharmaceutical companies such as China Resources and Guokong, the mainstream trend is to concentrate industry resources towards the top. Compared to ordinary generic drugs, the distribution of original and innovative drugs generally has a more considerable profit margin. Cooperating with more top original drug companies will also provide new growth momentum for distribution enterprises.

Source: https://pharm.jgvogel.cn/c1466187.shtml