CBI member, Pfizer has announced that it plans to accelerate the launch of new oncology drugs in China and expand drug coverage in rural areas.
Pfizer currently markets five cancer treatments in China – breast cancer drug, Ibrance; lung cancer drugs, Vizimpro and Xalkori; and kidney cancer therapies, Sutent and Inlyta – but will continue to unveil more novel cancer treatments in China, such as lung cancer treatment Lorbrena; which was approved in the US in 2018.
Chris Ariyan, emerging markets group lead for oncology at Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group said: “[Pfizer] have been putting a lot of focus on China since the country started making more efforts to enhance its healthcare.”
Pfizer is taking advantage of changes to the regulatory environment within the pharmaceuticals sector that now allow foreign drugs manufacturers to draw on evidence obtained from testing outside of China, if the state regulator deems there to be a critical need for a specific treatment. According to Ariyan, all of Pfizer’s five cancer treatments available in China were launched in the market following ‘priority’ reviews. He estimates that this shortened the time it took Pfizer to deliver the drugs to market in China by as much as two years.
Despite the accelerated approval, however, China is only the 87th country to sell Pfizer’s new breast cancer treatment, Ibrance.
However, in addition to increasing the number of cancer treatments Pfizer offers in the China market, the company also aims to improve the brand’s market penetration, particularly into rural areas.
“Access to healthcare is not just about getting drugs into the country, it’s also about being able to manage a therapy in the right way. The biggest challenge to improving rural patient access is a lack of healthcare expertise in these regions. Dealing with the side effects of cancer therapies, for instance, can be challenging in these areas.”
To that end, Pfizer is developing an online educational platform that will inform physicians in rural China about new treatments, offer assistance on monitoring therapies and help them reach out to other experts on specific cases. Pfizer already has two similar platforms for cardiovascular and anti-infective treatments in China.
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