China sees huge bounce in pharma rankings ahead of hybrid CPHI & P-MEC China

China is the pharma industry’s biggest gainer in the 2021 CPHI Annual Rankings, with digital matchmaking driving new waves of partnerships

The China specific findings of the CPHI Annual Report rankings are released ahead of CPHI & P-MEC China – which will take place in hybrid form, with Virtual Expo Connect running digitally from November 18th until December 18th, and the in-person event held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) December 16-18th, 2021.

The event opens at a time when many international companies are looking for new suppliers in China, as the country’s reputation has improved in every category of the rankings from the quality of ‘finished dosage’ (+2%) and ‘API (+3%) manufacturing’, to ‘growth potential’ (+7.5%) and ‘biologics processing’ (+11%). The research findings also showed that China’s ‘overall competitiveness’ rose 6% year-on-year, with its ‘biologics growth potential’ increasing by an impressive 10%, and finally, the country averaging rises across all categories of 7.2% – the largest of any country surveyed.

Collectively, the hybrid event is expected to welcome 50,000 attendees, 2,000+ exhibitors and features a personalised hosted buyer programme for qualified international buyers from more than 20 countries. The programme has been specifically designed to help international audiences meet and match with domestic suppliers and is a large driver of new partnering and sourcing in the country. The service, run by CPHI & P-MEC China’s expert team, sees buyers submit precise requirements, with only targeted matches retuned – removing all the logistical challenges international audiences face in trying to properly evaluate the thousands of potential partners.

CPHI Annual Report expert, Bikash Chatterjee, CEO of Pharmatech Associates – a USP company, commenting on the surge in China’s 2021 scores and the interest from international markets in sourcing from suppliers, added: “China’s recovery is not surprising. Since they make the chemical precursors for API as well as supply it, the simplest approach for any drug sponsor is to identify multiple suppliers. Chemical precursors are not always involved in the GMP portion of the API synthesis and can easily be incorporated from third-party suppliers. For drug sponsors looking to qualify additional suppliers as part of their resiliency strategy, having numerous low-cost alternative suppliers makes sense.”

Intentional audiences will be able to learn about the latest insights and trends in China via 31-days of online content – webinar topics include the ‘API outlook’, ‘technology and automation’, ‘excipients’, and ‘formulary innovation’– as well as perusing suppliers for two full months in the Digital Showroom, and even taking a digital walk through the show floor via the Virtual (VR) Pavilion.

“There is tremendous demand for ingredients suppliers from China and, in a year when international travel has remained muted, we have vastly expanded our virtual and digital solutions at CPHI China using our platforms to empower new partnerships. In particular, the hosted buyer programme has been especially successful and a remarkable 95% of matches go on to do business together. It’s one of the reasons why we are so excited for this year’s event, as the market in China is booming, and with international demand high there are proven benefits in attending digitally,” commented Silvia Forroova, Brand Director at CPHI & P-MEC China.