Bayer announced on Thursday that its pharmaceutical business in China achieved sales of 1.57 billion euros ($1.77 billion) in 2015, up 6.7 percent year-on-year on a currency-adjusted basis.
The figure reflects efforts to address the challenge of chronic disease management and the introduction of innovative products in China, Jiang Wei, head of commercial operations for China and the Asia-Pacific region in the pharmaceuticals division of Bayer, said in a note sent to the Global Times.
In China, the need for chronic disease management is rising due to a number of factors including an aging population and shifts in lifestyles.
According to a report released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, 25.2 percent of Chinese citizens aged 18 or above had hypertension and 9.7 percent had diabetes as of 2012, causing social and economic burdens.
The report said that for every 100,000 persons, 533 died from chronic diseases, accounting for 86.6 percent of all deaths.
Bayer said its products including Bayaspirin, Adalat and Glucobay help prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases and diabetes - two of the most prevalent chronic diseases in China.
Innovation is driving Bayer's business growth. In 2015, Bayer increased its research and development spending by 21 percent to about 4.3 billion euros, more than half of which was assigned to the pharmaceuticals division with a focus on therapeutic areas of cardiology, oncology, hematology and gynecology.
Bayer said it is increasingly involving Chinese patients in global trials. At the moment the company has 107 completed or ongoing clinical trials in China.
