Dear CBI Members and Partners,
Please note that there will be a Healthcare and Life Sciences webinar on Tuesday 06 September exploring opportunities for British companies in Malaysia.
To register for free for this online session please follow the link below:
UK-Malaysia Healthcare & Life Sciences Webinar 06 Sept 22
Our sincere thanks to both the UKABC and British Chamber in Malaysia for kindly sharing this information.
Dear CBI Members and Partners,
Kindly find a market intelligence report analysing Digital Health in Vietnam below.
Download Digital Health Vietnam_15122020_Final
With grateful thanks to CBI member KPMG and DIT in Vietnam.
CBI member, AstraZeneca has announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with the University of Oxford, to manufacture the university’s potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infections from SARS-CoV-2.
The collaboration aims to bring to patients the potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, at the University of Oxford. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca would be responsible for development and worldwide manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine.
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca, said: “As COVID-19 continues its grip on the world, the need for a vaccine to defeat the virus is urgent. This collaboration brings together the University of Oxford’s world-class expertise in vaccinology and AstraZeneca’s global development, manufacturing and distribution capabilities. Our hope is that, by joining forces, we can accelerate the globalisation of a vaccine to combat the virus and protect people from the deadliest pandemic in a generation.”
Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, said: “Our partnership with AstraZeneca will be a major force in the struggle against pandemics for many years to come. We believe that together we will be in a strong position to start immunising against coronavirus once we have an effective approved vaccine. Sadly, the risk of new pandemics will always be with us and the new research centre will enhance the world’s preparedness and our speed of reaction the next time we face such a challenge.”
Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, said: “Like my colleagues all across Oxford, I am deeply proud of the work of our extraordinarily talented team of academics in the Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group. They represent the best tradition of research, teaching and contributing to the world around us, that has been the driving mission of the University of Oxford for centuries. Like people all across the country, we are wishing them success in developing an effective vaccine. If they are successful, our partnership with AstraZeneca will ensure that the British people and people across the world, especially in low and middle income countries, will be protected from this terrible virus as quickly as possible.”
The potential vaccine entered Phase I clinical trials last week, to study safety and efficacy in healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 years, across five trial centres in Southern England. Data from the Phase I trial could be available next month. Advancement to late-stage trials should take place by the middle of this year
To read the press release in full, please follow the link.
Dear CBI Members and Partners,
Kindly find the CBI's latest COVID-19 update for download below:
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.
CBI member, AstraZeneca has announced that it is launching a new fund with China International Capital Corporation to invest $1 billion in China’s healthcare sector, predominantly to fund research and development.
According to AstraZeneca CEO, Pascal Soriot, the fund will look to invest in Chinese firms, with companies involved in a life-sciences park AstraZeneca helped to open in the city of Wuxi last year, to be among the first to be brought into partnership. AstraZeneca will be a minority partner in the fund, and will mainly play an advisory role in selecting investments and supporting firms.
Mr. Soriot said: “[AstraZeneca] can help by choosing some of those investments [and] we can also help along the way with start-up companies, developing products and helping them find their way around the world. […] it is a substantial investment on our side, but also for our financial partners.”
The company reportedly also plans to expand an existing research and development centre in Shanghai from 450 employees to 1,000 and to establish a new artificial intelligence innovation centre in the city.
AstraZeneca is performing particularly well in China, where sales have doubled since 2012 and foreign drugs manufacturers have witnessed a softening regulatory environment for pharmaceutical firms.
Mr. Soriot said that AstraZeneca wanted to start making drugs it could export globally from China, with areas of opportunity having been identified in oncology and respiratory diseases. “Historically, until today, [AstraZeneca’s] Chinese team has been developing global products for the Chinese market. We now want the Chinese team to take the global leadership on some projects,” he said.
CBI member, GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it has partnered with Xiamen University and China’s YangShengTang Pharmaceuticals Group to develop a next generation vaccination against human papillomavirus.
The vaccination will combine medical research that until the signing of the agreement was being pursued independently by Xiamen University and GSK, combining an innovative antigen detection method that had been developed by the university with GSK’s proprietary adjuvant AS04 treatment, a substance which enhances the body’s response to antigens.
This agreement reportedly marks the first time that a Chinese vaccine manufacturer has entered into a partnership with a foreign partner to leverage Chinese indigenously developed technology to develop and ultimately commercialise an important vaccine globally.
GSK said the partnership with Xiamen University and YangShengTang Pharmaceuticals will accelerate the development of the next generation of its cervical cancer vaccine.
Under the agreement, YangShengTang Pharmaceuticals will develop a vaccine production line in Xiamen that will comply with Chinese, US and European regulations. This production line will provide to GSK various different HPV vaccine antigens, which will then be combined with GSK’s technologies and sold into the European Union and United States as a final product under GSK branding.
Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women. It is estimated that there are over 300,000 cases of the disease amongst women annually, with one woman dying every two minutes as a result. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus, with over 100 variants of the virus known to scientists at present.
CBI member, AstraZeneca has reported that China’s National Medical Products Administration has approved the used of Roxadustat in China for the treatment of anaemia caused by chronic kidney disease in non-dialysis dependent patients.
China has become the first country to approve Roxadustat for all chronic kidney patients with anaemia.
This authorisation follows the approval of AstraZeneca’s Roxadustat treatment plan in China in December 2018 for anaemia in chronic kidney disease patients who are on dialysis.
Following approval, AstraZeneca expect to launch the drug and make it available to non-dialysis dependent patients during the second half of 2019.
Mene Panglos, AstraZeneca, Executive Vice-President, Bio-Pharmaceuticals said: “With this approval for Roxadustat in China, [AstraZeneca] are now able to provide first in class medicine to all patients living with chronic kidney disease who may experience anaemia, regardless of whether they require dialysis. This is a significant milestone and we look forward to bring the medicine to patients later this year.”
The approval is primarily supported by Phase III trials in non-dialysis dependent patients with anaemia, in which Roxadustat demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in haemoglobin levels.
Anaemia commonly develops in association with chronic kidney disease in both the dialysis and non-dialysis dependent patients. In China, chronic kidney disease affects an estimated 120 million patients. Although chronic kidney disease may occur at any age, it is more common in aging populations, and its prevalence is increasing. Chronic kidney disease can be both a cause and a consequence of cardiovascular disease and is a critical healthcare issue. There is no treatment available that is curative or has the ability to stop kidney deterioration.
CBI member, AstraZeneca has announced that it has partnered with a Shandong-based herbal supplements manufacturer, Luye Pharma Group, to launch a traditional Chinese heart remedy designed to lower cholesterol.
The launch of the new supplement serves as the first outcome of an MoU agreed between the two companies to “Promote the modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine and promote traditional Chinese medicine to the world,” and signed in May earlier this year.
Central to the MoU was an agreement to form a new strategic partnership to explore the opportunities for the export of XueZhiShang capsules - the name of the herbal remedy – in global markets other than China.
Leon Wang, Executive Vice-President International and President of AstraZeneca China said: “Chinese medicine is an outstanding representative of Chinese civilisation. It has not only made incredible contributions to the Chinese nation, but it has also had a positive impact on global civilisations. Both in China and in the rest of the world, Chinese medicine has broad prospects for development. [AstraZeneca] hope to join hands with excellent Chinese enterprises and academic experts to explore the high potential for the modernisation of Chinese medicine, realise its heritage and innovation, and jointly explore international paths for Chinese medicine globally to improve human health.”
Retailing at £2.50 a pack, the dietary supplement predominantly consists of red yeast rice. Through partnering with Luye Pharma Group, AstraZeneca has become the first multinational drugs manufacturer to obtain exclusive promotion rights for a Chinese drug..
Red yeast rice reportedly produces a lipid-regulating compound as it ferments in reaction to elements in the human body. In clinical trials, it lowered “bad cholesterol” by 45% when combined with the statin, Ezetimibe.
CBI member, GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it has obtained ‘conditional approval’ from China’s National Medical Product Administration to launch its shingles vaccine, Shingrix.
In China, about 3 million adults are affected by shingles each year. Responding to significant public need, the Chinese Government included shingles in a list of “clinically urgently needed new drugs”, released by China’s State Drug Administration to foreign pharmaceuticals companies last August. This list was released to encourage foreign drug developers to apply foreign data and evidence to fulfil China’s drug needs and expedite approval. Consequently, GSK’s Shringix vaccine has been approved for use in China on the same conditions as by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) –- the vaccine is only allowed in people ages 50 and above.
Dr. Thomas Breuer, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of GSK Vaccines said: “Today’s approval of Shingrix in China is recognition of the significant scientific advance this vaccine represents. In the pivotal studies the vaccine has shown over 90% efficacy across all age groups in the prevention of shingles, a disease that affects one in three people across the Asia-Pacific region. It can result in lasting pain and other complications which can severely impact the quality of people’s lives. [GSK] welcome the Chinese government’s progress to enable faster entry of new products into China and we look forward to working with the relevant agencies to bring the benefits of this vaccine to local communities.”
Shingrix is currently licensed for use in the EU, US, Canada, Japan and Australia, and has performed incredibly well across all markets. In the first quarter of 2019, following US FDA approval, sales of the vaccine reached £357 million – 45% ahead of analysts’ expectations and more than 60% more than the previous quarter.
To read the official press release, please follow the link.
