Merck to make its mark on healthcare

The three-partner agreement on the Chinese Hospital Pharmacy Leadership, Management and Development Program was signed on January 22, just a day after the State Council approved the final draft of the long-awaited national healthcare reform at its executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Pharmaceutical company Merck Serono, sponsor of the program, said it would invest 7 million yuan between 2009 to 2011 and cooperate with China Pharmaceutical Association and China Center for Economic Research of Peking University to support Chinese hospital pharmacy management and talent cultivation.

Meanwhile, the central government announced it would spend 850 billion yuan over the next three years to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to the country's 1.3 billion people, with the government expected to bear the majority of the public's medical expenses by 2011.

Meanwhile, the government will expand the sponsored medical insurance network to cover 90 percent of the population. Each person covered by the system will receive an annual subsidy of 120 yuan from 2010.

In addition, the authorities will build hospitals and improve medical services at county level and in remote areas, and speed up the reform of State-run hospitals, strengthening their administration, operation and supervision. It will also regulate the drugs system, with establishment of a National Basic Medicine Catalog to recommend the most effective and affordable medicines to doctors and patients.

Insiders say the reform will provide opportunities to various sectors, especially hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers, who are striving to cover the untouched rural market accounting for over 70 percent of the country's population.

Merck Serono is the Germany-based division for innovative prescription pharmaceuticals of Merck, a global pharmaceutical and chemical group. It discovers, develops, manufactures and markets innovative small molecules and biopharmaceuticals.

Howard Sui, managing director of Merck Serono China said that the reform is favorable news for his company and its counterparts.

Yang Zhuang, dean of the China Center for Economic Research of Peking University, pointed out that the Chinese Hospital Pharmacy Leadership, Management and Development Program would help Merck Serono strengthen its relations with hospitals, professional institutions and government.

The initiative follows a program launched in November 2008, in which Merck Serono invested 26 million yuan to join forces with the Ministry of Health to carry out thyroid disease education and skills training for bio-product technology management and professionals.

"We have been using and will continue to use our know how and expertise, and work closely with related academic institutions to improve Chinese hospital pharmacy management and its service level and provide better medical and pharmaceutical services," said Sui.

The Chinese Hospital Pharmacy Leadership, Management and Development Program aims to improve the competence of China's hospital pharmacy management and professionals in the following areas: deepening trainees' insight into the hospital pharmacy sector and enhancing their capacity for strategic thinking through the study and discussion of relevant courses concerning medical policies, the environment, and trends and changes in the pharmaceutical management system, further increasing their professional management abilities through the in-depth study of professional knowledge related to pharmaceutical management and the discussion of progress in the international clinical pharmacy field. It also aims to strengthen their capacity as team leaders through the study of relevant courses concerning comprehensive management and team leadership for division and function managers.

The three parties said that, under the new Chinese medical security system, they will build on their advantages to support the program: Merck Serono will solely offer financial support, the China Pharmaceutical Association will act as a coordinator between hospitals and pharmaceutical firms, and the China Center for Economic Research of Peking University will provide tailored management education materials and professionals for the program.

According to the scheme, between 2009 and 2011, more than 1,000 person-times engaged in pharmacies in Chinese hospitals will be provided with systematic training and study, with Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Chengdu and their neighboring regions being the scheme's initial focus.

Yuan Tianxi, deputy chairman of China Pharmaceutical Association, said the program is expected to play a major role in the cultivation of hospital pharmacy talents.

"The Chinese healthcare industry, especially pharmaceuticals, is entering a new stage, which requires managerial staff to grasp not only professional knowledge but also management skills," said Yang of Peking University.

Merck Serono China said that the company has not felt the impact of the global financial crisis.

Yuan indicated that medical demand is resilient, given that health is the basis of people's lives. "When living standards increase, people pay more attention to their quality of life, and, as a result, pharmaceuticals will correspondingly develop," he said.

Merck Serono entered China in 2007. Its workforce has grown from 400 to nearly 900 in just over a year, with headquarters in Beijing and representative offices in Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou and Chengdu. So far 13 brands of its self-developed medicines have been on the market in China and 10 new brands are to be introduced within three years.

A report conducted by pharmaceutical market research company International Marketing Services Health shows that the sector grew 26 percent in the first nine months of 2008. Sui, managing director of Merck Serono China, said his company's progress was greater than its competitors, though he declined to reveal the exact figures.

(China Daily 02/16/2009 page8)