H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) announced a revised agreement with its partner in China, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Xian-Janssen), that change the terms from the current license agreement for Lexapro® to a co-promotion agreement. The new agreement also means that both parties will invest substantially in more joint sales and marketing efforts for Lexapro® in China.
Lundbeck plans to double its current sales organisation in China and the new joint sales efforts behind Lexapro® is to be further expanded in the coming years. The agreements provide for a highly competitive share of voice in the Chinese market for anti-depressants.
Lundbeck has had products available in China since 1996 and currently Lexapro® is exclusively promoted by Xian-Janssen. Lundbeck's current sales force of approximately 50 sales representatives is promoting Ebixa® and is also expected to initiate marketing of Azilect® in a couple of years, which is pending approval.
"With the new agreement with our partner, we get an opportunity to strongly expand our activities in China and to further strengthen our commercial platform in this promising region," says Ole Chrintz, Senior Vice President, International Markets at Lundbeck. "The pharmaceutical market in China, and the CNS market in particular, is undergoing a rapid development and represents a substantial commercial opportunity that could contribute meaningfully to Lundbeck's future."
Though only being the fifth largest market today, China is emerging as one of the most important markets for growth for the pharmaceutical industry as the Chinese government is in the midst of expanding the access to healthcare in the country. The CNS market in China is developing rapidly and is growing faster than the Chinese pharmaceutical market in general.
By entering a co-promotion agreement, Lundbeck is to increase its value share of its anti-depressants in China and to significantly increase the share-of-voice for Lexapro® in China. The financial terms of the collaboration are undisclosed.
The Chinese market for CNS products
In 2009, the Chinese antidepressant market (N6A) had a value of RMB 1.3 billion (DKK ~1 billion) according to IMS, and has been experiencing more than 20% annual growth rates in the past years. The most widely used anti-depressants in China were by the end of 2009 paroxetine with a value market share of approximately 18%, sertraline with a share of approximately 10%, fluoxetine with a share of approximately 10% followed by Cipramil® and Lexapro® with 6.5% and 3.0% respectively.
The Alzheimer's disease market in China constituted around RMB 121 million (DKK ~93 million) in 2009 with donepezil having 66% and Ebixa® 16% of the value. The market has been growing by approximately 30% for the last couple of years.
The Chinese market for Parkinson's disease products was RMB 200 million (DKK ~160 million) in 2009.
Xian-Janssen and Lundbeck alliance
In 2002, Lundbeck entered a license agreement for the commercialisation of Cipramil® and Lexapro® in China with Xian-Janssen. In 2003 Xian-Janssen launched Cipramil® and in 2006 marketing of Lexapro® was initiated.
About Lundbeck
H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUKY) is an international pharmaceutical company highly committed to improving the quality of life for people suffering from central nervous system (CNS) disorders. For this purpose, Lundbeck is engaged in the research and development, production, marketing and sale of pharmaceuticals across the world. The company's products are targeted at disorders such as depression and anxiety, schizophrenia, insomnia, epilepsy and Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
Lundbeck was founded in 1915 by Hans Lundbeck in Copenhagen, Denmark. Today Lundbeck employs approximately 5,900 people worldwide. Lundbeck is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies working with CNS disorders. In 2009, the company's revenue was DKK 13.7 billion (approximately EUR 1.8 billion or USD 2.6 billion).