Is Pfizer's mature drug "canary in a coal mine" in China?

past few years, big pharmaceutical companies have been able to rely on China to drive growth, but in the second quarter, the Upjohn division of Pfizer, the drugmaker, was less fortunate.

is this an ominous omen for other multinational pharmaceutical companies? One analyst raised the issue.
in the second quarter, Pfizer's Upjohn, which has a pharmaceutical business, decided to merge with Mylan - plunging 20 percent in China, largely because quantity-based procurement systems are being tested in 11 major chinese cities.
the plan was launched in March, and Upjohn's second-quarter slump dragged down overall sales growth at New York pharmaceutical companies to just 2 percent in China, well below the more than 20 percent increase in the previous three quarters, Wolfe Research analyst Tim Anderson said in a recent note to clients.
Is this "Canary in the Coal Mine?" He asked; After all, almost all companies have their own "Upjohn".
yes, no. Indeed, the so-called "4 plus 7" program, centered on generic drugs, is a double threat: it provides a large percentage of public hospital prescriptions to the winning bid in exchange for lower prices.
and Pfizer has been affected on both fronts. Michael Gottler, Upjohn's president, said on a conference call in July that about 40 per cent of Upjohn's China business came from 11 cities involved in the procurement pilot.

two best-selling products in emerging markets, Lipitor and Norvasc Cardiovascular Therapy, have been hit hard after they lost contracts with local generic manufacturers. In the second quarter, Lipto's U.S. sales fell 23 percent year-on-year to $377 million, according to Pfizer's quarterly report.
is not limited to losing most of your business. With low prices in December, drugmakers had to cut prices beyond those bids to hold their ground. By the time the pilot program was launched in mid-March, Pfizer had reported price pressures on the drugs in its first-quarter securities filings. （cyy123.com）