According the Southern Medicine Economic Institute (SMEI), which monitors retail pharmacy sales in major Chinese cities, the retail pharmacy market sizes for cardio- and cerebro-vascular drugs in three provincial capital cities, Wuhan, Chengdu and Nanjing, were CNY 77 million, CNY 56 million and CNY 38 million in the first three quarters of 2007, up 12.48%, 6.65% and 8.18% respectively compared with the corresponding period in 2006.

The growth rates of Wuhan and Chengdu fell five percentage points and that of Nanjing fell 12 percentage points in the first three quarters of 2007 compared with the growth rates in the same period in 2006. 

SMEI suggests that traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) led the retail pharmacy sales of vascular drug sales in these three cities in the period. The leading five vascular drugs in these three cities in the first three quarters of 2007 are all TCMs, and they account for around 30% of the total retail pharmacy sales of vascular drugs in the period.

Anti-angina and coronary disease drugs account for 58.24%, 55.64% and 57.31% of total vascular drug retail sales in Wuhan, Chengdu and Nanjing respectively in the first three quarters of 2007. Local experts expect these drugs to continue dominating the retail pharmacy sales of vascular drugs in these three cities.

Cerebro-vascular and stroke medicines account for less than one third of total retail pharmacy sales of vascular drugs in these three cities in the period, but the leading five brands of such medicines represent more than 50% of cerebro-vascular and stroke medicine retail sales in all three cities. 

SMEI also found that chemical drugs for blood fat reduction grew sharply while TCMs for the fell or grew slowly in the period. Growth of such chemical drugs was 10%, 24% and 52% respectively in Wuhan, Chengdu and Nanjing in the period, and that of such TCMs was 10%, -20% and -5%.

It is reported that the sales of Lipitor and Ale, a locally-made generic atorvastatin brand, experienced sharp growth in the period following price cuts by the government. Retail sales of Lipitor in the three cities rose around 30% in the first three quarters of 2007 in all three cities, while Ale grew 20% in Wuhan and more than 100% in Chengdu and Nanjing.