AstraZeneca Announces Formation of New County-Level Oncology Sales Team in China

 Source / Sailyblue

 By Aniya

Confirmed: AstraZeneca Establishes County-Level Oncology Team

Recently, Sycamore Blue learned that AstraZeneca has decided to establish a county-level oncology team, which will be further divided into a lung cancer team and a non-lung cancer team.

In response, AstraZeneca China provided an exclusive statement to Saibailan: “The county-level teams of other multinational corporations primarily focus on generic drugs and do not cover oncology products. However, there is an urgent demand for innovative drugs among the vast number of grassroots oncology patients. Therefore,”AstraZeneca plans to increase its investment to ensure that, on average, each county is covered by a dedicated oncology representative. The company is recruiting hundreds of employees for its county-level oncology teams, through both external hiring and internal transfers.

It is understood that the team will currentlyCovers all oncology products currently under promotion, including a series of novel anti-tumor drugs and innovative treatment methods such as Tagrisso, Iressa, and Lynparza, and even the newly launched PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi.。

Furthermore, in addition to enhancing the accessibility of high-quality products at the county level, the team will subsequently assume responsibility for the platform-based development of the entire county-level healthcare system and the provision of innovative solutions, thereby helping to build a robust county-level health ecosystem and making the goal of “managing serious illnesses within the county” a reality.

To some extent,This is the first time a multinational pharmaceutical company has entered the county-level oncology market in China.

Several landmark policies were introduced in 2019: the nationwide expansion of volume-based procurement, the release of the latest National Reimbursed Drug List, and the gradual phasing out of local medical insurance schemes... Although these multifaceted policy measures had a significant impact on the pharmaceutical market, multinational pharmaceutical companies continued to maintain robust growth: according toIQVIAPublished2019Review of China's Hospital Pharmaceutical Market in [Year]: Sales Growth Rate of Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies Exceeds15%, while the figures for domestic enterprises are7.3%。

In terms of specific companies, AstraZeneca surpassed Pfizer to rank first in annual sales. According to AstraZeneca’s 2019 annual performance report, total revenue reached243.83hundred million USD, year-on-year growth13%. Among them, revenue from the Chinese market48.8hundred million USD, year-on-year growth35%, accounting for approximately of AstraZeneca's total global revenue21%。

A Focus on Oncology Business, Product Pipeline and Key Investment Portfolio, and Increased Emphasis on the Chinese Market Strategy May Be Factors Driving AstraZeneca’s Sustained High Growth.

In other words, the China region has become the biggest highlight of AstraZeneca’s global market; therefore,AstraZeneca’s Innovation Model in China May Offer Insights for Other Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies’ Sales Team Strategies in the Country

County-Level Oncology Market: Where Are the Challenges?

Notably, there are slight differences in medication structure between county-level markets and large tertiary Grade A hospitals.For example, county-level markets are primarily dominated by generic drugs, common medications, mid-to-low-priced drugs, and chronic disease medications.; in particular, the implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment has resulted in a significantly higher market growth rate for chronic disease medications at county-level hospitals compared to the overall market, with the growth rates for diabetes and hypertension medications reaching 14.4% and18%。

Due to limited affordability, the market for oncology drugs at the county level has effectively been overlooked by many companies.

In response, AstraZeneca China candidly told Saibailan:Compared with first-tier cities, the promotion of oncology drugs in county-level markets is more challenging.. This stems from the fact that oncology departments in county-level hospitals are not subspecialized, and most physicians have limited understanding of single-disease entity cancers. Therefore, the company aims to do more than just provide innovative drugs,It also helps county-level hospitals establish scientific and standardized oncology departments comparable to those in major cities through compliant academic promotion, thereby fostering the development of local experts within these counties., to establish an innovative academic platform for the "last mile," thereby empowering county-level hospitals and physicians.

Moreover, the expansion of multinational pharmaceutical companies into primary care settings is not merely about selling drugs. Today, profound changes have taken place in the health needs at the primary care level in China; patients require not only high-quality medications but also comprehensive disease management covering screening, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Caiyulan has learned that AstraZeneca is providing not only innovative medicines to primary care patients, but also innovative solutions and collaborative partnerships with its partners. Recently, the company has been actively developing and launching the “Smart Healthcare Community” solution tailored for county-level medical services.

In addition, AstraZeneca has launched 19 drugs in China, ranging from commonly used medications for chronic diseases with high demand at the primary care level to affordable targeted cancer therapies accessible at this level. Currently, the company’s key focus areas are chronic disease management and cancer screening.

Primary Care Market: A Battleground for All

Public information indicates that AstraZeneca has launched a special internal transfer program (applicable to the second quarter of 2020),Opening Up More Job Opportunities for the County-Level Market, the requirements for position transfer are:2019Annual performance rating no lower than3and interested in internal transfer opportunities.

AstraZeneca stated in its announcement that it aims to align with the trend of enhancing primary healthcare service capabilities, noting that the future county-level market will remain a vast blue ocean. In fact, the company began strategically positioning itself in the county-level primary care market at an early stage:2015At the beginning of the year, AstraZeneca established a dedicated county-level hospital team under its Commerce Department to oversee the development of commercial channels. From2019Starting from the year, AstraZeneca in20Province158City517The county offers a large number of hot job openings, and many county-level teams have been established in just half a year.

The latest 2019 data on the three major terminals and six major markets released by Menet partially explains the reasons:2019Annual Sales Achieved in the County-Level Public Hospital Market3212billion, year-on-year growth5.1%, sales in the urban public hospital market achieved8739100 million, year-on-year growth3%; in comparison, the sales growth rate of county-level public hospitals was significantly faster than that of the urban public hospital market.

Changes in the terminal market will inevitably lead to fundamental shifts in the pharmaceutical market and its structure, making the primary care market a new growth frontier for multinational pharmaceutical companies. In addition to AstraZeneca, Sanofi established an independent business unit dedicated to county-level healthcare in 2011, providing specialized skills and knowledge training to county-level physicians through various supported projects. Currently, its primary care business unit has achieved nationwide coverage across China.1600Multiple counties.

The data may present a more intuitive picture.IQVIA data shows,2019Multinational corporations have intensified their market penetration into lower-tier cities. The penetration effect in second-, third-, and fourth-tier cities is significant, with multinational pharmaceutical companies experiencing growth rates in fourth-tier cities exceeding22%. Domestic companies have not exerted as much effort as multinational corporations across cities of all tiers, with growth in first-tier cities appearing somewhat sluggish.

The primary healthcare market has become a fiercely contested battleground for multinational pharmaceutical companies. Many foreign enterprises have elevated the expansion of coverage and market access in county-level hospitals to a higher strategic priority, aiming to boost product penetration and sales revenue against the backdrop of policies such as medical insurance cost containment, volume-based procurement, and zero mark-up on drug prices. AstraZeneca’s recent move into the county-level oncology market may signal a trend toward market下沉 (downward penetration) and present new opportunities for medical representatives.

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