The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

China’s drug-approval backlog hits new high:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/13/us-china-pharmaceuticals-idUSKBN0M90QP20150313

China had more than 18,500 drugs waiting for approval at the end of 2014, up by a third from a year before, the official Center for Drug Evaluation said on Friday, reflecting industry concern that it is getting harder to get medicines approved in the China market.

Drug company executives say China has toughened the approval process, with companies forced to go through six to eight-year wait times in the world's second biggest pharmaceutical market, where spending is set to hit as much as $185 billion by 2018, according to IMS Health.

…China's drug trial center received 8,868 drug applications in 2014, up from 7,610 the year before, according to the annual report Center for Drug Evaluation, overseen by the country's food and drug regulator, and released on Friday.

Hiring additional qualified staffers might help.