China drug approval backlog jumps by a third
13-Mar-15, Channel NewsAsia
China had more than 18,500 drugs waiting for approval at the end of 2014, up by a third from a year before, the official Center for Drug Evaluation said on Friday, reflecting industry concern that it is getting harder to get medicines approved in the China market.
%20AFP_Anthony%20Wallace.jpg "China drug approval backlog jumps by a third (c) AFP Anthony Wallace")
Image: AFP / Anthony Wallace
Drug company executives say China has toughened the approval process, with companies forced to go through six to eight-year wait times in the world's second biggest pharmaceutical market, where spending is set to hit as much as US$185 billion by 2018.
China's fast-growing healthcare market is a magnet for drugmakers, medical device firms and hospital operators, with a broader healthcare bill set to hit US$1 trillion by 2020. However, the sector is riddled with issues from rampant bribery to huge divides between urban and rural care.
