(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- The annual China International Import Expo has accelerated the availability of new drugs in China, executives of several multinational pharmaceutical firms told Yicai Global.

The CIIE is an excellent platform for business-to-government communication and innovative cooperation for global companies, said Michael Lai, general manager at AstraZeneca China. After attending all three previous events, the UK-Swedish drugmaker is increasing its investment in China and deepening its cooperation with domestic parties, he added.

“As demand for drugs in the Chinese market increases amid the CIIE’s boost, multinational pharma firms started developing prescription drug simultaneously in China and abroad,” Cecilia Qi, vice-president and general manager of prescription drugs and vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline, said on the eve of the CIIE’s opening ceremony. “Phase I clinical trials will also be carried out simultaneously in China and the US to make the drugs available quicker.”

At the fourth CIIE that will kick off in Shanghai on Nov. 5, global drugmakers will not only exhibit innovative products, but also review drugs already available in the Chinese market that have been showcased at previous expos.

The UK’s GSK will exhibit Dovato, a combination of HIV integrease strand transfer inhibitor dolutegravir and HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor lamiduvine, for the first time in China at the upcoming CIIE. The treatment received regulatory approval in March and hit the market in June.

US drugmaker Merck and US biotech firm Ridgeback Biotherapeutics will also attend the expo to show off their co-developed novel coronavirus oral therapy which can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death for patients with mild and moderate Covid-19 symptoms by about 50 percent, per the results of Phase III clinical trials. Merck plans to apply for emergency use of the drug in the United States and other countries as soon as possible.

AstraZeneca will exhibit Orpathys at the CIIE. The tumor drug developed with Hong Kong investment holding firm Hutchison Whampoa has secured its first sales approval in China. The company will also showcase the achievements its Boston-based unit Alexion Pharmaceuticals made in the treatment of rare diseases.

US multinational Johnson & Johnson’s anti-depression and anti-allergy drugs will also be on display at the CIIE.

French biopharma firm Sanofi received regulatory approval last July for its innovative drug Dupixent to treat moderate to severe atopic dermatitis after exhibiting it at the 2019 CIIE. The medicine entered the Chinese market two years ahead of schedule and was included in the national catalog of medical insurance in March.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione