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Roche seeks wider door for cancer drugs
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IN China, some 2 million people die of cancer every year and more than three million new cases are reported annually, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
China’s prescription drug market is estimated to be worth 1 trillion yuan (US$157 billion) and forecast to double by 2019, said research firm Frost & Sullivan. But many cancer drugs remain beyond the reach of ordinary Chinese.
The State Council, China’s cabinet, said in August that the nation will step up the development of innovative drugs and create a more transparent review and approval process to handle a backlog of drug applications.
Shanghai Daily sat down to talk with Daniel O’Day, chief operating officer of Swiss-based Roche’s pharmaceutical division, about cancer drugs in the market.
Q: Where does China fit in Roche’s global strategy?
A: When I was head of Roche Diagnostics several of years ago, I visited many Chinese hospitals. China for us is a long-term investment and we’re confident that we can play a very important role by partnering with doctors, patients and the healthcare system in China.
I think we have the chance to bring new and innovative therapies to China.
I was very encouraged to see the recent announcement about expediting the approval process for new drug approvals.
We would clearly like to see a much faster regulatory review of our medicines in China. It’s extremely slow right now compared with other markets.
We are ready to work to bring medicine sooner to market.
Q: What will be Roche’s focus in China?
A: We have many new medicines that aren’t yet available in China in areas such as breast cancer, lung cancer, bowel cancer and gastric cancer.
China has a higher proportion of lung cancer and gastric cancer patients, and we’ve launched specific campaigns around such diseases, seeking to accelerate adoption of lung cancer drugs in China.
Q: Are you forging partnerships in China?
A: We’re committed to advancing partnerships in both research and development and market access. I would say the most important partnerships are in research and development as we look for new medicines that may be discovered and developed by Chinese companies or academic institutions.
Chemistry and biology are extremely strong disciplines in China, and we can leverage those resources with our global network.
It’s a two-way process, actually. China’s capability is beneficial to our global portfolio, and we’re seeking new ideas from scientists and academia in China.
Q: How can you deepen those partnerships and increase access to patients? What are the obstacles?
A: Our strategy is to partner with private insurance carriers in China to provide new opportunities for cancer patients. We value public-private partnerships with patient assistance programs for medicines.
A number of programs are already underway for our products such as Herceptin, Avastin and Tarceva.
I think we will continue along the same path in order to get faster access when we launch new products in China in the future.
Q: Can you talk about the value-based pricing for Roche’s cancer drugs? What would be the pricing model for products in China?
A: We’ll be working with the government to make the price more flexible, based on gross domestic product or on outcomes for patients.
When a patient has a diagnostic test and shows a very high likelihood of getting benefits from a medicine, that’s probably the most important scientific way to gain access and the best way to discuss the launch of drugs with governments.
In this way we can really narrow down the target population for government reimbursement. It’s really important when we negotiate our pricing model with stakeholders in the medical system.
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