6 multinational pharmaceutical companies announced their performance in China, which one performed better?

According to incomplete statistics, as of now, six multinational pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly have disclosed their performance in China while disclosing their 2021 financial reports
.
So, which one performed better? Judging from the revenue of the above-mentioned multinational pharmaceutical companies in China in 2021, AstraZeneca will take the lead, with a revenue of over US$6 billion in China in 2021, followed by Merck, Roche, Sanofi, and Novartis, who have won the Chinese market respectively.
Revenues were $4.
262 billion, $3.
533 billion, $3.
098 billion, and $3.
052 billion, while Eli Lilly’s revenue in China was $1.
661 billion
.
China is still an important market for multinational pharmaceutical companies, making important contributions to the total revenue of many companies
.
However, in recent years, multinational pharmaceutical companies have also faced greater pressure due to factors such as China's centralized procurement and medical insurance negotiations
.
For example, in 2021 H2, AstraZeneca's performance growth in China slowed down, and Q4 single-quarter revenue fell by 4% year-on-year
.
In order to maintain competitiveness, the company is also continuously adjusting its development strategy in China
.
For example, in 2021, several AstraZeneca business units will be split and merged, and a rare disease business unit and an omni-channel business unit will be established, accompanied by changes in many important executives
.
From the perspective of the revenue growth of the six multinational pharmaceutical companies in China, the overall revenue growth is still relatively strong
.
Among them, Merck's business in China has performed well.
In 2021, the company's revenue in China will increase by 60% year-on-year
.
Lilly's revenue growth in China is also relatively strong.
In 2021, the company's revenue in China will increase by 49% year-on-year
.
In addition, the revenue growth of AstraZeneca and Novartis in China in 2021 will also exceed 10% year-on-year, 12% and 18% respectively
.
From the perspective of performance growth, new drugs have undoubtedly injected growth momentum into the business of multinational pharmaceutical companies in China
.
According to industry statistics, Merck currently has 175 new drugs approved for marketing, including imipenem + cilastatin sodium, caspofungin acetate, montelukast sodium, sitagliptin, finasteride, molnupiravir, "K drug" pembrolizumab, etc.

.
Among the drug sales in hospitals across China, Merck's imipenem and cilastatin for injection accounted for 30.
17%; caspofungin acetate for injection accounted for 14.
21%, and sitagliptin phosphate tablets accounted for 30.
17%.
9.
65%
.
Lilly has a total of 76 new drugs on the market, including insulin lispro, vancomycin hydrochloride, pemetrexed disodium, olanzapine, gemcitabine hydrochloride, ceftazidime,
etc.
Among them, in the national hospital sales in China, protamine zinc recombinant insulin lispro mixed injection accounted for 19.
19%, vancomycin hydrochloride for injection accounted for 16.
62%, and pemetrexed disodium for injection accounted for 11.
96%
.
AstraZeneca currently has 140 new drugs approved for marketing, including budesonide, esomeprazole, goserelin, metoprolol succinate, rosuvastatin calcium, and osimertinib
.
Among the sales in hospitals across the country, budesonide suspension for inhalation accounted for 27.
18%; goserelin acetate sustained-release implants accounted for 12.
19%; rosuvastatin calcium tablets accounted for 10.
81%
.
In addition, Novartis currently has 298 new drugs approved for marketing, including valsartan, amlodipine, imatinib, octreotide, ranibizumab, zoledronic acid,
etc.
Among them, the sales of valsartan tablets accounted for 17.
53%; valsartan amlodipine tablets (I) accounted for 14.
22%; and imatinib mesylate tablets accounted for 14.
1%
.
It is worth mentioning that many established drugs of multinational pharmaceutical companies are also facing the impact of biosimilars and generic drugs
.
For example, Roche's "old troika" Avastin (bevacizumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab), and Rituxan (rituximab) are being hit continuously by biosimilars, and their revenue will decline by 38% in 2021.
%, 37% and 28%
.
Roche's overall oncology revenue fell 11% in 2021, even if the company's Tecentriq, kadcyla and Alecensa maintained decent growth and struggled to offset declines in established products
.