On November 1, during the 2nd China Healthcare Industry Investment Summit, managers from various international venture investment funds (VIF) expressed their interest in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.

Norman Chen, a partner with Fidelity Asia Ventures, cited many favorable elements in the Chinese drug development business, such as a large number of trial subjects, relatively low salaries of medical research staff, cheap labor, and low costs.

Wu Rong, a manager from Intel Capital, added that the Chinese government has more favorable policies than the US government in terms of management and supervision over the pharmaceutical industry.

However, some managers are not so upbeat about the investment prospects in the industry. Joe Zhou, a partner with KPCB China said that it is very difficult for VIFs to assess the marketing prospects of newly developed drugs and capacities of drug research institutes without efficient pharmaceutical knowledge.      

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese. (http://jjckb.xinhuanet.com/gnyw/2007-11/05/content_72512.htm)

(China.org.cn November 5, 2007)