merk
日前,默克公司(NYSE:MRK,在美国与加拿大以外称为默沙东)宣布在北京成立亚洲研发总部,进行创新药物的研发。
默沙东承诺未来五年内在中国投入15亿美元(约合96亿人民币)的研发资金,新的亚洲研发总部是这一计划的一部分。
据悉,默沙东亚洲研发总部位于北京朝阳区望京工业园,办公室和实验室总面积为47000平方米。预计一期工程将于2014年完工,届时将有约600名工作人员在此进行药物研发、转化性研究、临床开发、注册事务及外部研发项目。
目前,默沙东的中国总部设在上海,并在三地建有工厂。
纽约时报也发表题为China's Allure in Drug Reserach的文章,文章说,发达国家药物需求增长缓慢,而诸如中国印度等一些快速发展地区,药物销售年增长20%甚至更高,且中国有大量的医药研发人员,研发成本较低,默克此举表明,医药业的重心已渐东移。
China's Allure in Drug Reserach
Drug research tends to follow spending. Take Merck’s pledge on Tuesday to invest $1.5 billion in research and development in China over five years. Citizens of emerging economies are growing wealthier and living longer, while the fiscal health of their governments is robust. Merck’s step suggests that the pharmaceutical industry’s center of gravity is shifting eastward accordingly.
Growth in developed markets, where drug companies make most of their sales, is slowing to a crawl. The blockbusters of a few years ago are losing patent protection while cash-starved governments are clamping down on the prices they’re willing to pay for state-financed medical programs. In the United States, which accounts for more than a third of total revenue for the sector, drug sales increased only 2 percent last year, according to IMS Health.
In some faster-growing economies, by contrast, drug sales are increasing 20 percent a year or faster. And China’s importance cannot be overstated. It will become the second-biggest pharmaceuticals market in the world by 2020, IMS reckons, as the government carries out its $125 billion basic health care plan for all citizens.
It makes sense for drug companies to follow the money. R.& D. is cheaper in emerging markets, partly because places like India and China are pumping out lots of science and engineering graduates. The quality of these researchers and the clinical trials they perform can fall short of the rigorous standards established in developed markets. But both seem to be improving. Also, Merck and its rivals have a better chance of success fighting diseases like hepatitis B and esophageal cancer — both far more common in China than elsewhere — if they conduct research and trials on the ground.
Western worries over intellectual property theft haven’t gone away. Merck’s move is modest: a $300 million annual R.& D. budget in China would equal only 4 percent of the $8 billion the company is on track to spend this year. But by investing in China, Merck and competitors like Novartis are establishing bridgeheads in an important market. They won’t be alone. For drug companies, “Go East” is likely to be a reliable refrain for some time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/0 ... ?_r=1&ref=china
[ Last edited by pudon2010 on 2011-12-8 at 20:33 ] |