Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | According to recently released statistics from the China Pharmaceutical Association (CPA), sales of antidepressants through 18 surveyed hospitals in China grew by 20% in 2006 to reach 206.15 million yuan (US$27.4 million). |
Implications | The top five players in China's antidepressants market are multinationals, which account for 63.28% of the total hospital sales. However, they are coming under increasing pressure from generic competitors. |
Outlook | Although starting from a small base, future growth in China's antidepressants market is likely to be dynamic, as the introduction of new products meets the demands of a country that is becoming increasingly Westernised and—by implication—prone to depression. |
According to CPA statistics reported in Interfax, sales of antidepressants through 18 surveyed hospitals in China reached 206.15 million yuan (US$27.4 million) in 2006, compared with 171.83 million yuan in 2005 and just 86.75 million in 2002. The long-term market leader is fluoxetine, which achieved a hospital market share of 25.71% in 2006, although the product's sales declined by 9.7% to stand at 53.0 million yuan. Given current growth trends, it appears likely that paroxetine will be the new market leader in 2007. Other leading products include venlafaxine, sertraline, and citalopram (see table).
Sales of Leading Antidepressant Drugs in China, 2002-06 (Yuan mil.)* | |||||
2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
Fluoxetine | 49.23 | 51.10 | 54.32 | 58.72 | 53.00 |
Paroxetine | 16.82 | 25.03 | 35.37 | 46.38 | 52.89 |
Venlafaxine | 6.29 | 8.49 | 10.20 | 14.63 | 24.46 |
Sertraline | 3.83 | 5.56 | 10.88 | 16.42 | 24.30 |
Citalopram | 0.25 | 2.13 | 4.62 | 10.84 | 19.21 |
Others | 10.32 | 16.43 | 21.59 | 24.83 | 32.29 |
Total | 86.75 | 108.82 | 136.98 | 171.83 | 206.15 |
Source: Chinese Pharmaceutical Association | |||||
The main fluoxetine brand in China remains Eli Lilly's (U.S.) Prozac, although the brand has come under increasing pressure from generic competitors. This has led to a slight decline in the company's antidepressant sales, which amounted to 31.5 million yuan in 2006. Meanwhile, the leading manufacturer of antidepressants in China remains GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK; U.K.) local subsidiary, Tianjin Smith Kline & French (TSKF), whose sales rose by 5.4% to 41.12 million yuan in 2006. The other leading players in China's antidepressants market are also multinationals, and they include Pfizer (U.S.), Lundbeck (Denmark), and Wyeth (U.S.).
In total, approximately 100 companies were producing antidepressants in China in 2006, although the top five accounted for as much as 63.28% of overall sales.
Sales of Leading Antidepressant Drugs in China, 2002-06 (Yuan mil.)* | |||||
2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
GSK (TSKF) | 16.82 | 25.03 | 35.37 | 39.00 | 41.12 |
Eli Lilly | 32.06 | 32.91 | 32.16 | 32.09 | 31.50 |
Pfizer | 38.30 | 5.65 | 10.88 | 16.42 | 23.95 |
Lundbeck | 0.25 | 2.13 | 4.24 | 9.36 | 18.26 |
Wyeth | 1.32 | 0.86 | 2.71 | 6.06 | 15.63 |
Source: Chinese Pharmaceutical Association | |||||
In addition to hospital sales, the CPA also tracks sales through retail pharmacies, where paroxetine was the leading antidepressant in 2006 with sales of 178.52 million yuan (+24.0%). The other leading products in pharmacies were fluoxetine (110.4 million yuan; +17.7%), venlaxafine (83.41 million yuan; +76.0%), sertraline (39.76 million yuan; +104.8%), and citalopram (32.71 million yuan; +55.5%).
Outlook and Implications
Although antidepressants still constitute no more than a minor therapeutic category in China, 26 million people in China are believed to be suffering from depression, and estimates suggest that more than 90% of these do not receive professional treatment. In future, depression is likely to become increasingly prominent in China, as lifestyles become increasingly Westernised.
The market is also likely to be fuelled by new launches; the CPA identified only 18 antidepressant drugs in China, compared with more than 30 that are available on a global level. A potentially important new launch in 2007 was Cymbalta (duloxetine hydrochloride), which was jointly launched by Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly in April (see China: 19 April 2007: Eli Lilly and BI Jointly Launch Cymbalta in China).