On May 18, the Asia Brand Forum 2021, which was initiated by Asiabrand, a professional brand rating agency and co-sponsored by the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Management Committee and China-Asia Economic Development Association (CAEDA), kicked off in Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City and released its much-anticipated "China 500 2021" list. Unsurprisingly, Fosun Pharma was included in the list by dint of its off-the-charts performance in brand development, brand services and brand management, Wu Yifang, Chairman and CEO of Fosun Pharma, was also named one of the "China Brand Day—Top 100 Outstanding Brand Entrepreneurs" for his innovative management practices in leading the company.    

Brands are an internationally accepted economic construct that often take on strong influence in cultural communication. In 2017, the State Council approved to celebrate “China Brand Day” on May 10 each year, showing the importance of brand development as the mainstay of China's pursuit of premium economic development. This year’s list includes 500 brands from 80 sectors, with pharmaceutical sector as the second top sector boasting 23 brands.

Founded in 1994, Fosun Pharma is an innovation-driven international pharmaceutical and healthcare conglomerate based in China. In 2020, Fosun Pharma achieved an operating revenue of RMB 30.307 billion, of which the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 2.718 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 21.65%. Harboring global ambitions, Fosun Pharma actively pushes into the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors by expanding operations into such fronts as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical diagnosis and medical services, and further extends its reach to the sphere of pharmaceutical business through equity participation in Sinopharm Group. Among others, pharmaceutical development marks the core business of Fosun Pharma. In 2020, Fosun Pharma's pharmaceutical business achieved operating revenue of RMB 21.88 billion against R&D expenditures totaling RMB 3.670 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.21% and accounting for 16.77% of its operating revenue.   

The past two years have seen the approval for marketing a string of innovative drugs introduced or developed by Fosun Pharma over a decade. They include Han-Li-Kang (rituximab injection), Su-Ke-Xin (avatrombopag maleate tablet), Han-Qu-You (trastuzumab for injection) and Han-Da-Yuan (adalimumab injection). In terms of international cooperation, Fosun Pharma took the lead in introducing cutting-edge technologies such as the da Vinci Surgical System, CAR-T, mRNA vaccines, etc. In March 2020, Fosun Pharma signed an agreement with BioNTech for the authorization to exclusively develop and commercialize in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan a COVID-19 vaccine developed through its proprietary mRNA technology platform. Currently, COMIRNATY (BNT162b2) the mRNA vaccine jointly developed by the two companies has been used in the vaccination program of the Hong Kong and Macau governments since March 2021 whilst its approval is also being sought in Mainland China.

Wu Yifang the Chairman and CEO of Fosun Pharma, said:

In the years to come, on the road to becoming a global leader in the mainstream medical and health market, Fosun Pharma will keep speeding up innovation-driven transformation, strengthen sector-integrated operations, and steadily push into more international markets.