Based in Gaithersburg, GXS, a provider of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions, announced the launch of China eHealthcare Exchange, a B2B e-commerce platform for China's pharmaceutical industry.
Based on GXS Enterprise Gateway software technology, China eHealthcare Exchange was established via a partnership between GXS and Shanghai Agile Supply Chain Information System Company Limited (Agile Supply Chain), China's leading supply chain solutions provider. The platform is intended to improve the efficiency of China's pharmaceutical industry by providing the participants with an affordable, easy-to-use, B2B e-commerce solution for electronic transaction processing.
By migrating away from manual processes in their B2B transactions, Chinese pharmaceutical companies can achieve greater supply chain visibility within their industry. Sinopharm Medicine Holding Co., (Sinopharm), the largest pharmaceutical distributor in China, is already using the platform to increase visibility into its supply chain operations.
China eHealthcare Exchange leverages Agile Supply Chain's healthcare market knowledge and GXS' global B2B e-commerce expertise and technology. Pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers now are able to connect with China eHealthcare Exchange via their company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management systems to perform standardized electronic data exchange. They also can synchronize product information, share information on product development and monitor the status of transactions.
Mr Yang Jing Yu, CEO of Agile Supply Chain said, "Supply chain efficiency is an enormous problem in China's pharmaceutical industry due to the geographic distribution of manufacturers and distributors throughout the country. In addition, information systems among companies vary and there is no standardized pharmacy product code and data format. While the pharmaceutical industry in China is seeing tremendous growth, there are strong voices requesting lower prices for medications. Agile Supply Chain and GXS established China eHealthcare Exchange to provide supply chain protocol and visibility services to the players in the industry. This is exactly the right timing for such an endeavor."
"In this transforming stage of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, supply chain efficiency is a key factor to establishing and maintaining competitiveness. Taking the pharmaceutical development trend in western countries and Japan as an example, we believe manufacturers will outsource supply chain management to leading distributors. China eHealthcare Exchange will enable visibility capabilities throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, providing a solid platform for this growth and development," said Mr Raymond Teh, vice president of Asia-Pacific at GXS.