Pfizer shoots for leadership of Thai pharma industry
PFIZER (Thailand) has strong confidence of becoming the leader of this country's pharmaceutical industry in terms of market share, but says it is more important to earn the respect of its stakeholders such as hospitals, patients and their families.
Christian Malherbe, the company’s country lead for Thailand and Indochina, said in a group interview on Friday that the pharmaceutical industry in Thailand had a bright outlook for 2015. Demand for healthcare is on the rise, especially as the average population ages.
He said the company would continue to focus on its core business in the hospital sector, where new and innovative healthcare solutions would drive growth.
At the same time, Pfizer is actively increasing access to its drugs through pricing.
“We feel a responsibility to ensure that people of Thailand have the possibility to get the quality treatment that they need,” he said.
Pfizer will make some major investments in the drugstore business next year, Malherbe said.
It also plans to introduce new drugs.
“At present, we have more medicines under clinical tests in Thailand. When they pass the tests, they will be launched into the market,” he said.
Pfizer launched two new drugs in the Thailand market this year.
Malherbe said the US-based parent company spent on average US$1 billion (nearly Bt33 billion) on research and development per drug, with this R&D taking more than 10 years before the drug is released into the market.
“Pfizer’s focus for the past three years has been on strengthening our innovative core so that we can bring to patients new therapies that significantly improve their lives.”
He said Pfizer’s pipeline was robust with deep and promising capabilities across the key therapeutic areas of oncology, immunology and inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disease, neuroscience and pain, vaccines and rare diseases.
The company’s business strategy in 2015 will be to provide healthcare information to Thais through a variety of channels, both online and offline. Malherbe said its Line campaign was an important element of its communication strategy.
This is a way to introduce the brand and also provide information to Thais on how to take care of their health, he said.
