Chinese companies to step up pharmaceutical cooperation with Pakistan, China Economic Net reported.
Mr. Xin Chunlin from CanSino on the recently held CPEC B2B Conference in Karachi said:
Having provided over 20 million doses of vaccine made in Pakistan, we expect to deepen cooperation with this country.
On the conference organized by the Board of Investment (BOI), Pakistan, providers of original new drugs and traditional Chinese medicines including Luye Life Sciences Group, Guangzhou Baiyunshan Zhongyi Pharmaceutical, Guangzhou Qixing Pharmaceutical also expressed their intention to cooperate with potential Pakistani partners.
Mr. Xin in an interview with China Economic Net added:
Facing the common challenge of the ongoing pandemic, joining hands with the Pakistani brothers will bring benefits for both peoples.
CanSino is a renowned Chinese pharmaceutical company that has launched the single-dose CanSino COVID-19 vaccine branded PakVac locally produced in Pakistan last year. According to Ms. Ghazala Parveen, Chief Biological Production Division, National Health Institute, Pakistan, PakVac is producing more than 3 million doses per month, exceeding the initial expectation of 1 million and cutting the cost by 25%.
Meanwhile, Pakistan welcomes investment in the medicine sector.“Pakistani pharmaceutical sector is ripe for investment”, said Mr. Muhammad Radimuddin, Senior Techical Advisor to USP, on the conference.
Comprising of 700 plus manufacturers and thousand of distributors, Pakistan’s $4 billion pharmaceutical market has been growing at a pace of 12.5% CAGR.
“The potential of pharmaceutical exports with right partners is exponential”, Mr. Muhammad said. He also believed that as global generic medicine market is expected to grow to about $700 billion by 2025, this is an opportunity for Pakistani industry to take a larger share.
A case in point is that during the pandemic Pakistan was able to start local production and export the key covid-19 drug Remdesivir to 16 countries through joint ventures with foreign companies.
Mr. Muhammad and Mr. Xin coincide in thinking that more cooperation of this type can happen.
