Organon China Collaborates with Multiple Partners to Launch Retail Pharmacy Health Excellence Center

Today, the inaugural Retail Pharmacy Center of Excellence for Health—Strategic Development Seminar for the Retail Industry was officially launched. Hosted by the China Pharmaceutical Commerce Association and organized by the School of Management at Fudan University, the event received support and participation from multiple enterprises, including Organon China and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Through multi-party collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions, the seminar aims to establish China’s first representative benchmark platform for new pharmaceutical retail, characterized by “practice sharing, theoretical refinement, and capability enhancement.” It seeks to co-create a model for healthy ecosystem collaboration, promote the strategic transformation and steady development of pharmaceutical retail enterprises, and better meet China’s increasingly diversified and multi-level health needs.

Retail Pharmacy Health Excellence CenterLaunch Ceremony Site

The establishment of the Retail Pharmacy Health Excellence Center project emerged during a critical period when the pharmaceutical distribution industry was transitioning toward high-quality development. In October 2021, the Ministry of Commerce of China issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period," which set forth specific objectives and strategic directions for the high-quality development of China’s pharmaceutical distribution sector. It is foreseeable that, in this new stage of development, China’s pharmaceutical distribution industry will increasingly evolve into a modernized distribution system that better aligns with public health needs, is driven by innovation and enabled by technology, and features comprehensive urban-rural coverage and balanced layout.

Meanwhile, the 14th Five-Year Plan period is also a crucial phase for the comprehensive implementation of the Outline of the “Healthy China 2030” Plan. How to steadily develop digital pharmaceutical distribution, continuously optimize the structure of the distribution industry, and promote external exchanges and cooperation; how to foster the top 100 pharmaceutical retail enterprises and increase the chain store ratio in pharmaceutical retail, while accelerating the iteration and sound development of new industry models, has become a new challenge for the development of China’s pharmaceutical retail industry.

China Pharmaceutical Commercial AssociationVice President Jiang LihuaHe stated, “With the continuous introduction of national support policies, we believe that China’s pharmaceutical retail industry will enter a ‘fast track’ of development characterized by both endogenous growth and exogenous expansion. Against this backdrop, the launch of the Retail Pharmacy Center of Excellence holds milestone significance. I look forward to the project actively leveraging its platform effect to pool wisdom and resources from all parties, address challenges arising during rapid development, explore pathways for innovative growth, facilitate the achievement of high-quality industry development, enhance the quality and accessibility of pharmaceutical retail services, expand service reach, and better meet the needs of patients in China.”

As a pioneer in implementing innovative models for pharmaceutical retail in China, Organon China has actively engaged in the exploration and practice of multi-channel, digital innovation models and has participated in building a new ecosystem for pharmaceutical retail in China.Shi Wang, Senior Vice President, Global, and President, China, at OrganonIt stated: “The healthy and sustainable development of China’s pharmaceutical retail industry relies on the joint efforts of all partners within its ecosystem. Organon China looks forward to playing a key role in fostering communication and promoting shared growth throughout this process. By sharing and exchanging innovative practices, incubating and nurturing best practices, and collaboratively exploring new models of multi-dimensional, diversified, and refined development with the industry, we aim to help build a market-oriented, large-scale, and systematic service network. This will deliver value to patients across China and contribute to achieving the goals of Healthy China.”

The Retail Pharmacy Health Center of Excellence Project is a multi-year initiative comprising multiple modules that integrate theory with practice and leverage experience to inspire exploration. It addresses the varying needs of Chinese pharmaceutical retail enterprises in management and operations, facilitating systematic, specialized, and highly practical interactive discussions.Fudan University School of ManagementPresident Lu XiongwenEmphasis: “As the industry enters a new stage of development, pharmaceutical retail enterprises face both opportunities and challenges, placing higher demands on the competencies of corporate managers. We will actively leverage our academic resource advantages in business management, focus on addressing the difficulties and pain points in capability building for managers at different levels, and promote the summarization of core successful experiences. Our goal is to provide targeted assistance to Chinese pharmaceutical retail managers in aligning with policy development directions, enhancing their comprehensive management capabilities, and establishing differentiated competitive advantages.”

As a key deliverable of the center, the project will also jointly release the “Annual White Paper on China’s Prescription Drug Retail Industry” with Boston Consulting Group and host the annual “China Pharmaceutical Industry Retail Ecosystem Summit,” aiming to stimulate greater engagement within the industry ecosystem.Extensive discussions and collaborations continue to provide strategic decision-making guidance for China’s pharmaceutical retail enterprises.

Boston Consulting GroupManaging Director & PartnerJia FangrenHe stated, “As policies governing China’s pharmaceutical retail industry continue to be refined, we are pleased to have witnessed the sector’s rapid growth: the pharmaceutical retail model has evolved from a traditional, single-function dispensing approach to a new, end-to-end service model, gradually becoming a key entry point into the healthcare delivery system. BCG will continue to leverage its deep insights into the industry and market to help Chinese pharmaceutical retailers uncover value and growth opportunities, undertake timely strategic business transformations to address critical challenges, and support their evolution into innovative enterprises with forward-looking visions and strong industry capabilities. This will enable them to achieve scalable growth and organizational excellence, while cultivating more top-tier talent for the industry.”