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July 2 (NBD) -- China's pharmaceutical industry saw 140 M&As worth around 66 billion yuan (9.98 billion U.S. dollars) among listed companies during the January 1-June 29 period of this year, the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported citing incomplete statistics.

Industry insiders told 21st Century Business Herald that M&As among listed pharmaceutical companies are mostly aimed to improve business deployment, extend industry chain and boost market value.

Sun Yi, executive partner of the medical and health business unit at Jiuyo Capital, noted that M&As were also facilitated by industrial reform policies issued by the government including the two-invoice system in drug distribution as well as the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment model.

Twenty percent out of the 140 M&As were conducted in the bio-pharmaceutical domain, which Sun believed is to become a future trend. Besides, hospitals are sought-after acquisition targets.

Shi Lichen, founder of the medical assessment agency Maisikanglai Technology Co, explained that hospital acquisitions will speed up in the future, as hospitals can help pharmaceutical companies reach more end users. In addition, hospitals will serve as good channels for other firms like real estate developers and coal miners, to tap the healthcare industry, Shi added.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn