China Pharmaceutical Market
China is currently the 6th largest pharmaceutical market in the world with
over $14 billion in sales in 2006. For the past five years, China has experienced an annual growth rate of 20%, which is approximately twice that of the US pharmaceutical market. China is expected to reach $40B in market size in 2020, making it the 3rd largest pharmaceutical market worldwide. Developing a China focused strategy and penetrating the Chinese market has become an integral part of the marketing strategy major pharmaceutical firms are pursuing. Recently Roche, Lilly, GSK, Merck, and many others have set up R & D centers throughout China. The Chinese middle class has grown to over 300 million individuals and is ranked second in the number of people with a net worth of 1 mm or more. Diseases, typically found in highly developed countries, such as obesity and diabetes are reaching explosive levels, while smoking and air pollution have resulted in an epidemic of lung cancer.
Currently, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry focuses on generic products.
There is a great need for innovative and proprietary products in China that
will address their vast medical needs. After joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), China now has respected intellectual property (IP) laws and an IP court system in place. The significant growth rate of their pharmaceutical industry, their ability to obtain patent protection, a rapidly growing middle class, significantly lower costs for drug development and shortened time frame to bring a drug to market (about half that of the US), presents unprecedented opportunities for GCAT to capitalize on.
T & T Pharma Inc: GCAT's Joint Venture with Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research
T & T Pharma Inc. is a joint venture established by GCAT and Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research to commercialize the technologies acquired and in-licensed by GCAT and target the Chinese market.
About Tianjin City and Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research after Shanghai, Beijing
The Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research (TIPR) is a prestigious research organization with more than 50 years of pharmaceutical research history. It was one of three pharmaceutical laboratories originally established by the SFDA. It is now a state owned organization with over 500 full time staff. It is important to note that TIPR has substantial experience in both western, as well as Traditional Chinese Medicine.
The mission of the institute is to develop new therapeutic drugs for specific pathologies including cancer, cerebral and cardiovascular disease, hepatitis and other viral diseases, disorders of the central nervous system, anti-inflammatory and immune diseases, and diabetes. With a full range of capabilities in pre-clinical development and GMP manufacturing, TIPR has the financial resources and scientific capabilities to take candidates all the way from early discovery stage through end stage clinical trials.
