In March 2024, Yoshitaka Koketsu, the Chairman and CEO of Sumitomo Pharma Group in China received an exclusive interview with Shanghai Daily.

The following article is from 上海日报SHINE.

Sumitomo Pharma (China) Co.,Ltd. has confidence in its growth potential in China.

Japan's Sumitomo Pharma said it remains highly confident of the prospects of the healthcare industry and the company's growth potential in China, with new medicines expected to be launched in the coming years.

"The Chinese pharmaceutical market is the second largest in the world in terms of size and is strategically important for our group," Yoshitaka Koketsu, chairman and CEO of Sumitomo Pharma (China) Co.,Ltd. told Shanghai Daily.

Yoshitaka Koketsu, chairman and CEO of Sumitomo Pharma (China) Co.,Ltd.

He said the company was actively making preparations to reflect the growing importance of the Chinese market, with new medicines such as oncology treatment and several antibiotics expected to be launched in the next few years.

Last year, Sumitomo Pharma China celebrated its 20th anniversary and it aims at becoming a "Global Specialized Player" with dedicated efforts to bring sustainable innovation for patients and society as a whole.

Sumitomo Pharma is to introduce innovation products and services to benefit patients and society in each specific market it operates, and to use capital gains to further invest in the next cycle of innovation.

Sumitomo Pharma's Vibegron, which is under clinical development, targets an overactive bladder causing urinating troubles and reduces patients' quality of life.

"The major disease prevalence in China is similar compared with 10 years ago while patients' awareness and disease knowledge has advanced a great deal with higher attention toward quality of life," Koketsu said.

The company plans to fully leverage the local digital ecosystem and customers' preferences to carry out a series of clinical studies in addition to patient education programs.

It is also making preparations to introduce the most suitable combination of products to meet the evolving local market situations.

Considering China's large market potential, the proportion of China market in its global sales is expected to exceed 10 percent in the next few years, compared to about 7 percent in fiscal year 2022.

The approval of XENLETA (lefamulin acetate) for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in China in November 2023 was also a landmark for the company to add to its local portfolio.

Sumitomo Pharma expects new medicines to be launched in China in the next few years.

XENLETA is a novel treatment for infectious diseases with a mechanism that differs from existing antibiotics, and is less likely to develop resistance and cross-resistance.

"We're actively seeking domestic partners to establish a complete manufacturing and local supply chain system for XENLETA in order to better serve the Chinese market," Koketsu said.

At the same time, he also greatly values partnership to navigate the fast changing market landscape.

"It is more reasonable for us to seek partnership with other companies for parts of the value chain to reduce risk and improve efficiency," he added.

He also spoke highly of Shanghai's innovative infrastructure and ecosystem for biopharma products.

"The increase in innovations originating in China will increase their presence globally in the future and that's due to the business environment in Shanghai, including talent, infrastructure, and collaboration from top-class medical institutions," he added.

"In the future, I think it is natural for foreign biopharma companies, including Sumitomo Pharma, to seek the best partner in Shanghai International Science and Technology Innovation Center to build their future value chains."