Reducing costs and increasing efficiency, personnel adjustments, and accelerating localization have become the key words for multinational pharmaceutical companies to develop in China under fierce market competition. In May of this year, multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) also made personnel adjustments in the China region.
Qi Xin, former General Manager of GSK China, has been promoted to Vice President and Head of Vaccine Business for GSK Greater China and Intercontinental (GCI) region. Yu Huiming, former Vice President and General Manager of the Taiwan region, will take over and take office on July 1st. Yu Huiming is also the second female local general manager of GSK China after Qi Xin.
Up to now, Yu Huiming has been in office for over a hundred days. Regarding his feelings since taking office, Yu Huiming stated in a media interview at GSK Shanghai office that based on the company's advantages in talent and products, as well as the policy support provided by the government in recent years, GSK still has confidence in the Chinese market and will further strengthen its confidence in investing in the Chinese market.
Seize the 'China Opportunity'
Since the divestment of consumer healthcare business Helion in July 2022, GSK has become a company focused on biopharmaceuticals. At present, the company's business covers four major treatment fields: infectious diseases, AIDS (HIV), respiratory diseases/immunology, and oncology.
According to the financial report data of the second quarter of this year, GSK achieved a total revenue of 7.9 billion pounds (about 72.7 billion yuan), of which the vaccine business revenue was 2 billion pounds (about 18.4 billion yuan), an increase of 1% year on year (including the COVID-19 plan); The revenue of specialty drug business reached 3 billion pounds (approximately 27.6 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 22%; The general medicine business generated a revenue of 2.9 billion pounds (approximately 26.6 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 12%.
It is worth mentioning that with the intensification of China's aging society and the improvement of public health awareness, GSK's recombinant herpes zoster vaccine Shingrix is rapidly increasing in the Chinese market. This vaccine is the second-generation recombinant vesicular vaccine developed by GSK, which brought GSK over $1 billion (approximately RMB 7.1 billion) in revenue in its first year on the market.
It is understood that shingles is a clustered vesicular disease that often occurs on the skin of elderly people, immunocompromised individuals, and chronic patients, triggered by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus lurking in neurons. About one-third of the general population will develop shingles in their lifetime, but approximately half of the population aged 85 and above will develop shingles. According to clinical research data previously disclosed by GSK, Xinanlixi has a 100% protective effect on Chinese adults aged 50 and above, and the protective effect exceeds 10 years.
GSK signed an exclusive distribution and joint promotion agreement with domestic vaccine company Zhifei Biotechnology in October 2023, agreeing to purchase the contracted products for a period of three years from 2024 to 2026. According to the semi annual report of Zhifei Biotechnology in 2024, in the first half of this year, the issuance of GSK recombinant herpes zoster vaccine exceeded 1.6 million units, and coverage has been achieved for more than 20000 end use units nationwide.
In addition, in clinical research, GSK has explored more possibilities for Xinanlixi. At the end of July, GSK announced that compared to the live attenuated shingles vaccine Zostavax and the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine Pneumovax 23, its recombinant shingles vaccine Xinanlixi had a statistically significant association with a reduced risk of dementia. That is to say, compared to the other two vaccines mentioned above, adults aged 50 and above who receive Xinanlixi have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
Firm confidence in investing in the Chinese market
Yu Huiming stated that the vaccine business is a sector that GSK attaches great importance to in the Chinese market. In addition to the approved shingles vaccine and cervical cancer vaccine, GSK will also promote the launch of other new vaccine products in China in the future. In Yu Huiming's view, the CIIE is an important opportunity and platform to accelerate the landing of innovative products.
Taking GSK's new drug for respiratory diseases as an example, the drug was approved in China after its debut at the 4th CIIE in November 2021 and was launched the following year for the treatment of adult eosinophilic granulomatous vasculitis. In 2022 and 2023, Xinkelai will be exhibited as the "CIIE Baby" twice in a row at the CIIE. In January of this year, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved the use of neoadjuvant therapy (Mabolizumab injection) for the maintenance treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma (SEA) in adults and adolescents aged 12 and above.
Meanwhile, Yu Huiming also expressed her expectations for the 7th CIIE in an interview with the media. GSK hopes to raise public awareness of disease prevention in China through the CIIE, and help achieve the 'Healthy China 2030' goal, "she said.
In addition, for multinational pharmaceutical companies, the Chinese market has undergone significant changes in recent years. The fierce market competition puts pressure on them, while the accelerated pace of drug market approval and strong support from relevant preferential policies also make them feel delighted.
Tong Yu, Vice President and Head of China Medical Affairs at GSK, stated that the Chinese market is one of GSK's most important markets globally. Whether in formulating new product strategies or conducting globally significant experimental designs, we will definitely listen to the needs of Chinese patients. In important clinical studies, we will also include a certain proportion of Chinese patients. This reflects our confidence and determination to invest in the Chinese market
When it comes to how to grasp the changes in the Chinese market, Yu Huiming told reporters that GSK's next goal in terms of products is to bring more new products to China as soon as possible, and GSK is currently cooperating with local enterprises or universities to expand new markets and conduct clinical research on products. On the one hand, it is speed. We are committed to promoting the research and development progress of some new products in China and keeping pace with the world, or becoming the first launch in China. On the other hand, it is quantity. We hope to bring good products to China to exert greater power and improve accessibility, "said Yu Huiming.