Healthy Demand in the East

Drugs giants such as Pfizer and Merck are likely to push further into China, the world's fastest growing market, after new figures revealed global prescription drug sales last year grew at their slowest pace since 1998. According to fresh data from research body IMS Health, worldwide sales rose seven per cent in 2004 to some £285 billion, of which nearly 45 per cent came from North America. The year before, sales grew by ten per cent.

The Scotsman (http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=262602005)