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China likely to become 2nd largest OTC medicine market in 2010

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-24 20:39

China will become the world's second largest market of non-prescriptive medicine, or "over the counter"(OTC) medicine in 2010, a senior executive with a European pharmaceutical giant said Saturday.

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Olivier Charmeil, Sanofi-Aventis' senior vice president for pharmaceutical operations in Asia/Pacific and Japan predicted Saturday made the prediction in Beijing.

In 2008, the scale of OTC medicine market in China hit 70 billion yuan ($10 billion), with Vitamin and mineral products taking the lion's share.

Sanofi-Aventis China announced Saturday the decision of building a joint venture to focus on vitamin and mineral medicines with China's Minsheng Pharmaceutical Group Co, Ltd.

The move was a strategic one for Sanofi-Aventis to enter the Chinese OTC medicine market, said Charmeil.

The pharmaceutical giant will control the majority of the shares of the joint venture pending the signing of an agreement.