Novartis finds prescription for success in China

The China market functions as an indispensable growth engine for the international business of Switzerland-based Novartis, and the pharmaceutical company expects to maintain double-digit growth in China over the next two years, said a senior company executive.

Novartis achieved a growth of 17 percent in China, the second-largest pharmaceutical market worldwide, last year, making it one of the fastest-growing drugmakers in the country. In the first three months, its quarterly sales revenue in China hit $1 billion for the first time.

"This showed that we're growing even more than last year," said Patrick Horber, president of the international unit for Novartis, during an exclusive interview in Shanghai on Wednesday.

"And I expect that we'll grow further this year as we'll continue our efforts of doing clinical trials in China, introducing innovative therapies into the country and bringing more products into the country's National Reimbursement Drug List," Horber said.

In 2023, the company's eight new products and indications were approved in China. So far this year, there have already been four approvals. "An important reason for the accelerated pace is the country's evolving regulatory policies, which show a higher favor for innovative, high-quality products," he said.

The rapid growth in the China market also proved that the company has a portfolio that matches the country's healthcare needs in many areas, including cardiovascular and oncology.

Aiming to bring breakthrough treatment options to cancer patients in China, Novartis announced last week that the Novartis China Haiyan Radioligand Manufacturing Site in Haiyan county, Zhejiang province, which neighbors Shanghai, began construction work.

With an estimated investment of 600 million yuan ($83 million), the radiopharmaceutical production site, the first of its kind in the country, aims to expand production and supply capacities of innovative radioligand therapies in China and beyond. The site is scheduled to kick-start production by the end of 2026.

Radioligand therapy is a new generation of targeted therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals that can be selectively targeted to bind to corresponding diseased tissues, using radiation energy to kill tumors. Due to the moderate distance of the radiation, it can minimize damage to healthy cells and allow patients to have a better quality of life, explained medical experts.

Novartis has about 10 radioligand therapy-related products in development, covering a range of tumor types. Pluvicto, an innovative medicine for Novartis' targeted radioligand therapy, has been approved in the United States and the European Union to treat a type of prostate cancer in 2022.

"Regarding China, we're scheduled to submit a new drug approval filing for the medicine within this year, and we're already looking forward to offering them ... in China," said Horber.

According to a report by Precedence Research, the global radiopharmaceutical market is expected to grow from $5.2 billion in 2022 to approximately $13.67 billion in 2032.

"We will increase capacity accordingly if the radioligand therapies penetrate into the China market well in the future. Also, with our manufacturing site abiding by global standards, we may produce supply for markets outside China as well," said Horber, adding that the company has previously built similar facilities in the US, Spain and Italy.