China prepares for big entry into vaccine
market
ENLARGE
CORRECTS TYPE OF VACCINE TO H5N1 INSTEAD OF H1N1 - In
this photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011, a worker inspects the label on
vials containing H5N1 flu vaccine produced by Beijing-based drug maker Sinovac
Biotech Ltd. in Beijing. The world should get ready for a new Made in China
product, vaccines. After years of supplying its own market, China's vaccine
makers are gearing up to push exports in a move that should lower costs of
lifesaving immunizations for the world's poor and provide major new competition
for the big Western pharmaceutical companies. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The world should get ready for a new Made in China
product - vaccines.
China's vaccine makers are gearing up over the next few years to push exports in a move that should lower costs of lifesaving immunizations for the world's poor and provide major new competition for the big Western pharmaceutical companies.
However, it may take some time before some parts of the world are ready to embrace Chinese products when safety is as sensitive an issue as it is with vaccines - especially given the food, drug and other scandals the country has seen.
Still, China's entry into this market will be a "game changer," said Nina Schwalbe, head of policy at the GAVI Alliance, which buys vaccines for 50 million children a year worldwide.
"We are really enthusiastic about the potential entry of Chinese vaccine manufacturers," she said.
China's vaccine-making prowess captured world attention in 2009 when one of its companies developed the first effective vaccine against swine flu - in just 87 days - as the new virus swept the globe. In the past, new vaccine developments had usually been won by the U.S. and Europe.
Then, this past March the World Health Organization announced that China's drug safety authority meets international standards for vaccine regulation. It opened the doors for Chinese vaccines to be submitted for WHO approval so they can be bought by U.N. agencies and the GAVI Alliance.
"China is a vaccine-producing power" with more than 30 companies that have an annual production capacity of nearly 1 billion doses - the largest in the world, the country's State Food and Drug Administration told The Associated Press.
But more needs to be done to...
China's vaccine makers are gearing up over the next few years to push exports in a move that should lower costs of lifesaving immunizations for the world's poor and provide major new competition for the big Western pharmaceutical companies.
However, it may take some time before some parts of the world are ready to embrace Chinese products when safety is as sensitive an issue as it is with vaccines - especially given the food, drug and other scandals the country has seen.
Still, China's entry into this market will be a "game changer," said Nina Schwalbe, head of policy at the GAVI Alliance, which buys vaccines for 50 million children a year worldwide.
"We are really enthusiastic about the potential entry of Chinese vaccine manufacturers," she said.
China's vaccine-making prowess captured world attention in 2009 when one of its companies developed the first effective vaccine against swine flu - in just 87 days - as the new virus swept the globe. In the past, new vaccine developments had usually been won by the U.S. and Europe.
Then, this past March the World Health Organization announced that China's drug safety authority meets international standards for vaccine regulation. It opened the doors for Chinese vaccines to be submitted for WHO approval so they can be bought by U.N. agencies and the GAVI Alliance.
"China is a vaccine-producing power" with more than 30 companies that have an annual production capacity of nearly 1 billion doses - the largest in the world, the country's State Food and Drug Administration told The Associated Press.
But more needs to be done to...
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