The Weekly News Update is a weekly roundup of business news from around the Asia-Pacific region, covering Fusion Consulting's core industry practices: chemicals, consumer & retail, financial services, industrial & logistics, information & communication technology, life science and media & leisure. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.  Life science

Asia - Bayer Schering Pharma plans major Asia-Pacific expansion Source: Channel NewsAsia, 3 March 2008 German pharmaceutical company Bayer Schering Pharma plans to aggressively expand its footprint in the Asia-Pacific. The drugmaker is expecting to see strong growth in markets such as China, Korea and India over the next few years, so these will be its key areas of focus. China will continue to be its most important market in the region. Bayer Schering Pharma is aiming to be the number one pharmaceutical company in China in terms of sales by the first half of 2008. The company will build infrastructure in India to build critical mass, while it will expand research activities in Korea. It also plans to reshape its strategy to enter the Vietnam market, while strengthening its position in Indonesia and Pakistan. India - India mulls potentially landmark ruling on generic drugs Source: AFP, 29 February 2008 The Indian Patent Office is set to issue a landmark ruling over the petition of a local drug manufacturer to allow cheaper generic drugs especially for cancer patients for export to poor countries under the "compulsory license" rule. Indian firm Natco Pharmaceuticals made the plea for the country's first so-called "compulsory licence" to the patent office as it bids to make generic copies of Pfizer's Sutent and Roche's Tarceva cancer drugs. The case is attracting interest of giant drug manufacturers across the globe because it could open the floodgates for drug manufacturers to make copies of patented drugs. While it may provide poor countries access to key drugs, critics say it might hinder the development and research of new medicines. Japan - Pharma giants leave Japan for China and Korea Source: BizChinaUpdate, 2 March 2008 Pharmaceutical multinationals are increasingly closing research centres in Japan, and moving their operations to China and Korea. Pfizer said it plans to spend US$300 million on research in Korea, after announcing the closure of its research centre in Japan. Glaxo will also close its Japan R&D centre, and will invest US$40 million on its first China site in Shanghai. Slow growth, regulatory hurdles and high costs are the main reasons for shifting capital-intensive operations, such as research and development, from Japan to lower-cost Asian locations. China also has the added attraction of a huge potential domestic market. which is expected to grow 12-13% in 2008.     View an example of our experience in this industry. Back to list of articles.  Visit our new website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

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