What business leaders are watching at CIIE: Part I

What are the highlights of your exhibits at the China International Import Expo? Are you launching any new products, technologies or solutions ?

Novo Nordisk will display publicly available product information of 9 innovative medicines that are launched in China and are benefiting Chinese patients. This includes a new generation of long-acting insulin Tresiba and growth hormone Norditropin, both launched in China in 2018, as well as Victoza which entered the National Reimbursement Drug List in 2017.

In addition, Novo Nordisk will also showcase several research literatures on new drugs that are launched overseas and are planned to be marketed in China in the future.

We will also dedicate space in our exhibits to highlight the high prevalence of diabetes in China, the importance of early diagnosis and early and better treatment for better clinical outcome as well as an international initiative called Cities Changing Diabetes. We hope through our efforts to raise awareness of diabetes, its negative impact to health and social-economic burden if not managed well and to rally stakeholders in both public and private sectors to continue changing diabetes together.

In terms of deals, what do you expect from the CIIE Whom are you targeting?

Novo Nordisk hopes to showcase our efforts, contributions and unwavering commitments to change diabetes in China for the past 24 years. We target to let more people understand the threat of diabetes and its heavy economic burden on society which encourages stakeholders to work together with us to change diabetes.

We also expect to learn about the latest products, services, and ideas brought by pharmaceutical peers; understand the development of Internet technology, big data, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and 5G, and their application to the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, we will also pay attention to the development of manufacturing, financial services, and logistics, as they will also have an important impact on our business.

Do you think the CIIE could eventually help drive the development or upgrade of the industry your company is in, and your company's strategy in China?

Yes. The China International Import Expo provides an open platform for all countries and major pharmaceutical companies to showcase themselves, exchange ideas and seek cooperation. Through this platform, we manage to learn about the latest products, services, ideas of pharmaceutical peers, understand the development of other technical fields, and apply new technologies to the pharmaceutical industry.

Novo Nordisk will continue to work with the government and the healthcare community to promote awareness of diabetes and healthy lifestyle. On the other hand, we will integrate China into our global R&D system, and aim to realize simultaneous clinical research, new drug registration application and approval between China and the world, so that patients in China and access to our innovative medicines simultaneously as patients in other countries.

In the next seven to eight years, Novo Nordisk plan to bring 10 innovative medicines to the Chinese market in various disease areas.

What's your view on China's pledge to further open up its markets to foreign companies How would that benefit your business? Any specific examples?

China's pledge to further open up its market to foreign companies tremendously improves the economic development in China, making the Chinese market one of the most attractive markets in the world.

The continuous open-up leads the healthcare industry to the direction of encouraging innovation, focusing on quality and emphasizing efficiency. We welcome this positive trend.

Tresiba, which was launched in China in March this year, is a new generation of ultra-long-acting basal insulin analogue. It was in the fast-track priority review list during the drug approval process of the State Food and Drug Administration of China. As a result, the review and approval process of Tresiba was significantly accelerated.

What is your forecast for China's economy in the next three years? What key issues will you be watching for?

We take a quite positive attitude towards China's economy in the next three years. China is Novo Nordisk's second-largest market. To us, China market offers us a long-term growth opportunity. Our growth rate reached 6 percent last year and we aim to continue growing our business in next three years.

China faces huge challenge from diabetes. According to China's Rules of Halves (the statistics report by IDF): more than 114 million people with diabetes, less than half of them know that, and around one-third receives treatment, and only about 13 percent of people with diabetes in China are being treated and effectively managing their diabetes.

Fortunately, if we can achieve early diagnosis and better treatment, we will be able to help patient achieve optimal outcome and more patients can live normal lives with good quality.