Despite a small population and market size, the Hong Kong pharmaceutical market is enticing. It is positioned well geographically, bordering the world’s fastest-growing economy, China, and neighboring many emerging economies. The economy is also influenced heavily by China’s and should therefore experience growth in the forecast period. Additionally, the healthcare system is of an extremely high standard and is among the best in the Asia Pacific region. This is also likely to improve in the forecast period as the government increases its health expenditure. The pharmaceutical market is estimated to grow at a fairly high single-digit CAGR in US dollar terms between 2011 and 2016. Hong Kong will be the third smallest pharmaceutical market in the Asia Pacific region in 2016.
Although the Hong Kong biologic sector does not form a large part of the pharmaceutical market, there has been an increase in joint-venture activities in recent months. Hong Kong’s largest domestic company, CK Life Sciences, is growing fast through a policy of aggressive acquisitions. CK also claims to operate the most sophisticated R&D facility in Hong Kong. This is supplemented by the Hong Kong government’s offer of funding for infectious disease treatment research. However, the generics market is still the largest market sector in Hong Kong, and it is dominated by local manufacturers, which have been operating in the market for many years. Overall, demand for OTC products is expected to grow gradually in a market that has matured and has little desire for change, particularly with traditional Chinese medicines still available.