Global pharma giants step up alliances in Chinese market

Kevin Zhang, head of the China arm of Straumann, said that the first phase of investment into the facility is expected to be completed in autumn 2023, and the center's total capital investment will reach 1.2 billion yuan ($183 million) by 2029.

"Such a center will enable us to improve the speed of responding to the market and prepare for new product releases down the line," he said.

Realizing that China has become the world's second-largest consumption market for probiotics, Japan's Meiji announced that it would introduce two new yogurt products with specific probiotic types to East China regions through both offline and online sales channels beginning in April.

Industry experts said that research has shown that probiotics can help improve immunity. One of the new products by Meiji proved to help inhibit Helicobacter pylori bacteria in the stomach, said the company.

Hp bacteria infections are listed in the first category of cancer-causing factors of gastric cancer by the World Health Organization. Its infection rate in China is over 40 percent, according to experts.

In the field of rehabilitation, Consanas, a brand of German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, kicked off its operations in Shanghai in partnership with the Shanghai International Medical Center three years ago.

Despite the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year 70 patients received rehabilitation treatment at the facility, which provides neurological rehabilitation care with a focus on stroke care.

Paul Schoenle, clinical head of Consanas Rehabilitation, said that the German rehab model, including evaluation methods at different stages, personalized patient management throughout the process, and the use of hi-tech rehab equipment was well accepted by Chinese patients.

Schoenle, who is also a member of an official working group for the future development of rehabilitation in Germany, said that they've witnessed China's development in the area of rehabilitation these past few years.

"For example, market segments specializing in neurological, motor and psychological systems have been emerging and growing, and Shanghai's health authority pledged to construct 30 role model rehab centers within communities this year," he said. "Such progress has rendered unprecedented opportunities for us."