Merck: Growing spending and innovation underpin China’s pharma market

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04:01

Although the Chinese economy is under downturn pressure, Merck Group, a global leader in health care, life science and performance materials, is "upbeat on the growth in China," Stefan Oschmann, CEO of the group told CGTN in an interview on the sidelines of the China Development Forum (CDF).

In the sectors Merck operates in, "We don't see any downturn," he said.

Looking back at the past 40 years, never before in history have more people had access to quality health care faster than in China during these years, he said. He noted that this is a major achievement and China's growing spending on health care indicates opportunities for the industry.

In addition to spending, the Chinese government has attached greater importance to intellectual property, in a bid to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese companies in the global market, Oschmann said.

For future plans, he said the new trend is co-innovation.

In today's highly digitalized and innovative economy, Merck wants to work with its Chinese partners, including academia, startups and corporations. To this end, the group has set up several innovation hubs in China and two new hubs are being built in Guangzhou and Shanghai.

In terms of breakthrough in the health care industry, he said there will be a revolution in cancer research and treatment with progress made in immunotherapy.