Growth in Liver Cancer Therapies in China: Western Brands and Targeted Agents to Drive Demand

Strategic Insights -

Fuelled by increasing access to medical care, a growing drug-treated patient population, and a rising number of higher-income liver cancer patients, the sales of therapies to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in China are expected to nearly triple from $53 million in 2009 to $144 million in 2014. This growth will be driven by the increasing use of Western brands and targeted agents, such as Bayer's Nexavar, which are considered more efficacious and costly.

Key Takeaways:

  • Sales of therapies to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in China will nearly triple from $53 million in 2009 to $144 million in 2014.
  • The use of targeted therapies to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in China will continue to increase as physicians become more confident using these agents.
  • Chinese physicians report that Nexavar, Shandong Simcere Medgenn's Endostar, and Chengdu Huasheng's Li Ka Ting are the main targeted therapies used for HCC in China.
  • Sales of agents manufactured by multinational corporations will account for more than two-thirds of total HCC drugs sales in China in 2014.
  • The key reason for the growth is the increasing uptake of expensive MNC brands of targeted therapies in urban regions of China.
  • The market share of conventional branded chemotherapies manufactured by MNCs will decline, while the uptake of targeted therapies will offset this decline.

Statistics:

  • $53 million: Sales of therapies to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in China in 2009.
  • $144 million: Expected sales of therapies to treat hepatocellular carcinoma in China in 2014.
  • 54%: Market share of total sales in China in 2009 accounted for by liver cancer drugs manufactured by multinational corporations.
  • 68%: Expected market share of total HCC drugs sales in China in 2014 to be accounted for by liver cancer drugs manufactured by multinational corporations.

Sources:

  • "Liver Cancer in China" report from Decision Resources.
  • Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues.
  • Decision Resources Analyst Jing Wu.