Following a decision by Pfizer to donate CNY 10 million in cash and drug products, a number of other foreign and local pharmaceutical firms announced their plans to help with the earthquake relief efforts in Sichuan province of China.

According to a local press estimate, the total donations for the earthquake relief by pharmaceutical companies in China so far is approaching CNY 300 million.

RDPAC, the industry association of foreign R&D-based pharma companies in China, revealed to Pharma China that it made an immediate donation of CNY 1 million under the name of the association, and that within just a few days of the quake, RDPAC members have contributed over CNY 57 million in funds, medicines and devices, including antibiotics, IV solution, PD solution, amino acids, parenteral nutritional products and CRRT machines.

Abbott and its philanthropic foundation Abbott Fund provided U.S. $1 million in funding and product donations through its trusted relief partners Project HOPE and Heart to Heart International. Abbott product donations, including antibiotics, will be distributed as part of rapid relief shipments to local hospitals and health care facilities.

Wyeth donated CNY 2 million worth of baby formula and multivitamin product Centrum to the China Red Cross Foundation.

MSD China also announced on May 16 that it would donate US$1 million in cash, drug products and vaccines. The first batch of donations was already donated by MSD through the American Red Cross.

Other multinational companies that donated funds and products include Sanofi Aventis (CNY 15 million), GSK (CNY 10 million), J&J China (CNY 10 million), and Roche (CNY 5.5 million).

Also according to IFPMA, its member companies and associations have already delivered or are delivering emergency funding and medicines totaling US$17.3 million to help victims of the two disasters in Burma and China.

Companies which have reported making donations of cash and/or medicines to IFPMA include: Abbott, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck KGaA, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche, sanofi-aventis, Schering-Plough and Wyeth.

A large and growing number of local companies also pledged their donations in cash and drug products to the earthquake victims. Among them are Xiuzheng Pharma (CNY 25 million), Harbin Pharma (CNY 20 million), Joincare Group (CNY 10 million), Yangtze River Pharma (CNY 10 million), Fosun Pharma (CNY 10 million), Shijazhuang Pharma (CNY 10 million), and Simcere Group (CNY 5 million). 

Meanwhile, SFDA issued an urgent notice on May 14 requiring food and drug regulatory departments at all levels to strengthen supervision on drugs and medical devices for quake relief and secure the quality of donated drugs and medical devices.