Cipla plans to enter China's branded respiratory business in coming quarters

Employees and security staff work at the reception area of Cipla at its headquarters in Mumbai, India June 17, 2015. Cipla Ltd, India's fourth-largest drugmaker by sales, is planning to enter Latin America and Eastern Europe to tap into growing demand for generic drugs in emerging markets, Chief Executive Subhanu Saxena said. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui - RTX1GUXV

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Drug maker Cipla is planning to enter the branded formulation market in China in coming quarters either by acquiring a company or collaborating with a local partner.

The company plans to focus on respiratory therapeutics in the country.

“Like India, China has a huge incidence of respiratory illnesses. It’s an industrialized country, there is pollution. We believe lot of patients need the care that we provide,” Umang Vohra, Global Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Cipla said.

“We want create a respiratory company in China,” Vohra said while declining to provide further details.

Howevre, it is unclear whether Cipla has already started registering products with the Chinese food and drug administrator (FDA).

Cipla’s proposed entry into China’s branded respiratory segment is in line with its pursuit to build a global respiratory franchise. The segment alone contributed about one-fifth to Cipla’s sales of Rs 14,630 crore in FY17.

Cipla Respiratory segment includes range of products including pills, nasal sprays and inhalers to treat asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Allergic Rhinitis (AR), among others.

In China, respiratory diseases are the second largest cause of deaths. It is estimated that of the 100 million Chinese — who are thought to have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — only 30 percent have been diagnosed and only 5 million are receiving any kind of treatment.

Currently, international pharmaceutical firms such as GSK, Astrazeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck and Novartis dominate the Chinese respiratory market.

This is not the first time Cipla is entering China. It has earlier invested in Jiangsu-based drug maker Cdymax predominantly involved in making active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) some formulations. The comapny has also invested in BioMab, which is focused on developing biosimilars for the Chinese market.

Cipla has exited both these investments.

China despite its large size remains a tough market for Indian drug makers to gain toehold due to competition, slow pace of approvals and the government's  rule to collaborate with local companies and technology transfers.