How has 2023 panned out for the life sciences industry in Asia Pacific?

Many of the trends in 2023 in life sciences in Asia Pacific were predicted, but there have been some unexpected events, which have caught market participants off-guard. It’s been the year of the expected and the surprises.

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China Volume-Based Procurement (VBP) Policy 

In 2018, China introduced VBP for pharmaceuticals, as an attempt to reduce the price of pharmaceuticals, and in 2019 introduced VBP for medical devices. Under VBP, Chinese Provinces tender out the supply of products on a large-scale. Procurement decisions have shifted from individual clinicians to hospital administrators. This has resulted in price cuts of 70 per cent and a shift in market share from Western manufacturers to Chinese manufacturers. Nevertheless, Western-made products are considered by Chinese consumers to be higher quality than Chinese-made products. Recently, some of the Chinese manufacturers are expanding sales into Asia-Pacific, with reported success in New Zealand.

China plus one

A consequence of the pandemic and closed borders, western companies are adding new manufacturing facilities in Vietnam or elsewhere, to supplement existing manufacturing in China.

Regional headquarters (RHQ) for multinational life sciences companies (MNCs)

Singapore is the favourite location for a RHQ for MNCs, ahead of its rivals in Hong Kong and Shanghai. 140,000 people left Hong Kong from 2020 to 2022, including many executives who relocated from Hong Kong to Singapore. More recently, with surging real estate costs in Singapore notably in the residential tenancy sector where rents have doubled in the last 1 to 2 years for expatriates, some corporates are looking to return to Hong Kong or relocate some of their staff back to the city.

Government support for R&D and medical research