China sees huge bounce in pharma rankings ahead of hybrid CPhI and P-MEC China

China’s pharma industry has seen a record improvement in its overall score, growth potential and biologics, according to new data. The China-specific findings of the CPhI Annual Report rankings are released ahead of CPhI & P-MEC China – which will take place in hybrid form, with Virtual Expo Connect running digitally from 18th November to 18th December, and the in-person event at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) from 16th to 18th December, 2021.

The event opens at a time when many international companies are looking for new suppliers in China, as the country’s reputation has improved in every category of the rankings from the quality of ‘finished dosage’ (+2%) and ‘API (+3%) manufacturing’, to ‘growth potential’ (+7.5%) and ‘biologics processing’ (+11%). The research findings also showed that China’s ‘overall competitiveness’ rose six per cent year-on-year, with its ‘biologics growth potential’ increasing by an impressive 10 per cent, and finally, the country averaging rises across all categories of 7.2 per cent – the largest of any country surveyed.

Collectively, the hybrid event is expected to welcome 50,000 attendees, more than 2,000 exhibitors, and features a personalised hosted buyer programme for qualified international buyers from over 20 countries.

Bikash Chatterjee, CEO, Pharmatech Associates and CPhI Annual Report expert, commenting on the surge in China’s 2021 scores and the interest from international markets in sourcing from suppliers, said, “China’s recovery is not surprising. Since they make the chemical precursors for API as well as supply it, the simplest approach for any drug sponsor is to identify multiple suppliers. Chemical precursors are not always involved in the GMP portion of the API synthesis and can easily be incorporated from third-party suppliers. For drug sponsors looking to qualify additional suppliers as part of their resiliency strategy, having numerous low-cost alternative suppliers makes sense.”

Intentional audiences will be able to learn about the latest insights and trends in China via 31 days of online content – webinar topics include the ‘API outlook,’ ‘technology and automation,’ ‘excipients’ and ‘formulary innovation’– as well as perusing suppliers for two full months in the digital showroom, and even taking a digital walk through the show floor via the Virtual (VR) show.

“There is tremendous demand for ingredients suppliers from China, and, in a year when international travel has remained muted, we have vastly expanded our virtual and digital solutions at CPhI China using our platforms to empower new partnerships. In particular, the hosted buyer programme has been especially successful and a remarkable 95 per cent of matches go on to do business together. It’s one of the reasons why we are so excited for this year’s event, as the market in China is booming, and with international demand high, there are proven benefits in attending digitally,” commented Silvia Forroova, Brand Director, CPhI & P-MEC China.