China Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market

China Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market Overview

The China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market is estimated to be worth $5.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 9% during the forecast period. Small molecule drugs represent nearly 90% of pharmaceutical products available in the market. In fact, in 2019, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research approved 48 drugs, of which, 67% were small molecules. However, drug development and manufacturing is a cost intensive process, and is, at times, characterized by the need for advanced capabilities and specialized facilities, which are not possible for all developer companies to build in-house. This has compelled many of the smaller companies to outsource a significant part of their manufacturing operations to contract service providers. Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) offer a wide range of services, ranging from process R&D, and clinical / commercial scale manufacturing of APIs, intermediates and FDFs. Some of the benefits of engaging manufacturing service providers include access to larger production capacities, cost savings (for innovator companies) and reductions in time-to-market. In this context, the advantages of outsourcing to emerging global regions, especially in Asia, are well known. A number of western drug developers have already demonstrated the preference to outsource their manufacturing operations to pharma CMO or CDMOs in China.

Over the past few decades, the pharmaceutical market in China has evolved into the second largest in the world; as per certain industry experts, it is estimated to surpass USD 300 billion by the end of 2020. Similarly, the contract manufacturing market in the region has also grown into a prominent and promising segment of the pharmaceutical industry. The relatively lower manufacturing costs, availability of cheap and skilled labor, and a supportive regulatory landscape, have led to the establishment of various pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in China by both Chinese and non-China based service providers. The number of FDA approved API CMO manufacturing facilities in the region has doubled during the period 2010-2019. In fact, as of October 2019, 13% of FDA approved pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are situated in China. These service providers are focused on investing in the development of the necessary capabilities and capacity to stay ahead of the competition in this field. In light of the aforementioned facts, China has been one of the top preferences of pharmaceutical companies for API and FDF CMO manufacturing projects, since the past few years. 

We believe that, the changing supply chain scenario due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak is likely to have a prominent impact on the global contract manufacturing industry, including China, in the short term. Having said that, the steps being taken by the pharma players and contract manufacturers are likely to help stakeholders absorb this impact. As pharma CDMO companies resume full-scale operation after the coronavirus outbreak, the demand for large-scale contract manufacturing is expected to increase significantly. Owing to this, China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market is likely to witness substantial market growth during the forecast period.

Key Companies in China Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market

Examples of key CDMO companies engaged in China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of CDMO companies is available in the full report) include 2Y-Chem, Aurisco Pharmaceutical, ChemPartner, Dorrapharma, Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical, Infoark, Ningbo Menovo Pharmaceutical, Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical, Shanghai Acebright Pharmaceuticals, STA Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical. This market report includes an easily searchable excel database of all the contract manufacturers providing pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services in China.

Recent Developments in China Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market:

Several recent developments have taken place in the field of China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market. We have outlined some of these recent initiatives below. These developments, even if they took place post the release of our market report, substantiate the overall market trends that have been outlined in our analysis.

• In September 2023, Sanner announced the expansion of its manufacturing facility in order to strengthen its production capacity in China. 
• In June 2023, Aurisco received marketing authorization approval for AUXITON®, the oral finished dosage form of Dydrogesterone in China. 
• In January 2023, Aurisco entered into a collaboration with Cytiva in order to build its first Oligo FlexFactory platform for commercial production.

Scope of the Report

The “China Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market, 2020-2030” market report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunities of the China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market. The market research report also features a detailed analysis, highlighting the capabilities of pharma CMO in this region. Amongst other elements, the market research report features:

• A review of the current market landscape of companies offering pharmaceutical contract manufacturing services in China, along with information on year of establishment, company size, location of headquarters, type of product (active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), intermediates and finished dosage formulations (FDFs)), type of FDFs, type of primary packaging and number of manufacturing facilities.
• A detailed landscape of the pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in China, including an analysis based on location of these facilities, highlighting key pharma CMO manufacturing hubs.  
• A brief discussion of various guidelines laid down by regulatory authorities in China for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. It also provides information on various challenges, related to regulatory scrutiny, faced by pharmaceutical manufacturers in China.
• Brief profiles of key players that offer a diverse range of capabilities for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products in China. Each profile includes an overview of the company, information related to its pharmaceutical manufacturing service portfolio, details related to its manufacturing facilities, recent developments, and an informed future outlook. 
• A review of the pharmaceutical manufacturing related initiatives of the top 10 big pharma players (shortlisted from the top companies of 2019 by revenues), featuring a [A] analysis by investments made, with detailed information on investments related to R&D centers and manufacturing facilities in established and emerging regions of China, [B] Harvey ball framework, presenting a summary of all initiatives, and [C] a heat map representation highlighting the yearly distribution of the initiatives undertaken by each company.
• A case study of the key recent developments (including partnerships and acquisitions) pertaining to the manufacturing of pharmaceutical drugs, during 2014-2020 (till February), based on several parameters, such as year of partnership, type of partnership and geography.
• A detailed capacity analysis based on the individual reactor capacities of various industry stakeholders, taking into consideration parameters, such as company size (small-sized, mid-sized, large and very large), and location of the manufacturing facility (Eastern China, Southern China and Northern China). 
• A discussion on industry affiliated trends, key drivers and challenges, under a SWOT framework, which are likely to impact the evolution of this field. It also includes a Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative impact of each SWOT parameter on industry dynamics.
• A case study comparing the key characteristics of large molecule and small molecule drugs, along with details on the various steps involved in their respective manufacturing processes. 

The key objective of China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market report is to provide a detailed market analysis in order to estimate the existing market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunity for China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market during the forecast period. Based on various parameters, such as growth of the overall pharmaceutical drugs market in China, cost of goods sold, and direct manufacturing costs, we have provided an informed estimate of the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and long term, for the forecast period 2020-2030. In order to provide a detailed future outlook, our projections have been segmented on the basis of [A] key geographical regions (Eastern China, Southern China, Northern China), [B] type of product (API and drug product), [C] type of drug product (solid, liquid / semi-solid, injectables, others), [D] scale of operation (clinical and commercial), [E] company size (small-sized, mid-sized, large / very large). To account for the uncertainties associated with the growth of the pharmaceutical drugs contract manufacturing market and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, portraying the conservative, base and optimistic tracks of the market’s evolution.

The opinions and insights presented in this market research report were also influenced by discussions conducted with stakeholders in China pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market. All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums. Financial figures mentioned in this market report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.