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Westpoint Pharma - Redefining excipient excellence
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November 26 , 2025
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In just five years, Westpoint Pharma has emerged as one of China’s most promising excipient innovators—driven not by commodity chemistry, but by deep pharmaceutical understanding. With a strong vision for quality, international expansion, and regulatory alignment, the company is positioning itself as a new-generation Chinese manufacturer capable of competing with global leaders.
Excipient Innovation Rooted in Pharmaceutical Thinking
Unlike many manufacturers in China who treat excipients as simple chemical materials, Westpoint Pharma approaches them from a pharmaceutical perspective. This distinction, the company believes, is its biggest competitive strength.
“Our team has pharmaceutical backgrounds, so we understand excipients not as chemicals but as functional components of a good drug product,” says Wensen Xiao of Jiangsu Westpoint Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,. “To make a good pharmaceutical drug, you need a very good, functionally strong excipient. That is what we are doing—something different, something better.”
This philosophy drives the company’s entire product development strategy. Westpoint Pharma focuses on designing excipients that enhance formulation performance, stability, bioavailability, and manufacturability. Their offerings include a variety of functional excipients designed to meet stringent standards demanded by both local and global pharmaceutical companies.
A Strategically Located Manufacturing Base
All of Westpoint Pharma’s production is based in China. Their manufacturing facility is located close to Shanghai, in the eastern part of the country along the Yangtze River Delta—China’s most advanced industrial corridor.
“We have a plant about two hours from Shanghai,” Xiao explains. “It’s a strong location for logistics, raw materials, regulatory access, and technical talent.”
While the company is still young—actively manufacturing excipients for only five years—it has gained significant traction within China. The domestic market, known for its high price sensitivity, has long depended on imported European and US-origin premium excipients. But Westpoint Pharma has rapidly changed this landscape.
“In the last few years, we have replaced many imported, very good brand excipients inside China,” he adds. “Now we are in a position to expand into the international market.”
Global Foray: Early Steps in South Asia and the Middle East
Though Westpoint Pharma is still building its global presence, the company has already secured customers in: South Korea, Middle Eastern countries and Parts of Southeast Asia.
At the moment, exports remain limited not due to lack of demand but due to limited manpower for overseas expansion.
“We are new to the international market and we don’t yet have a complete export team,” Xiao says. “Liu Henglong is the first person in our company to actively work on this. It is just the beginning.”
The company sees enormous potential in partnering with strong distributors or pharmaceutical counterparts—especially in markets that value quality but are open to new suppliers.
India: The Priority Market
Among all countries, India stands out as the company’s most attractive opportunity.
“India is a big market. Everybody wants to be there,” Xiao notes. “Unlike the US or Europe where most companies use local products, India is open to global suppliers. It is worldwide—every company goes to India.”
The company is clear: India is not just a major target, but the most immediate priority. Due to India’s large pharmaceutical export ecosystem, its players look for suppliers that offer high quality at competitive pricing—precisely where Westpoint Pharma believes it can differentiate itself.
A Different Kind of Competition
In international excipient markets, two types of manufacturers dominate: a handful of high-quality global leaders, and numerous low-cost suppliers. Westpoint Pharma wants to break this dichotomy.
“We want to be the best in China,” he explains. “In the excipient world, the truly good quality manufacturers are very few. The rest are low-level suppliers everywhere. But good ones are never enough.”
He believes this creates a big opportunity.
“Chinese suppliers exporting to India are mostly low-level products. But we want to make a difference. If Indian partners work with us, they won’t just get lower prices—they will get world-class quality. That gives them a bigger profit room, better market positioning, and long-term trust.”
The company is challenging the stereotype that “China equals low price.” Instead, it wants customers to evaluate performance, functionality, compliance, and added value—not just cost.
“For every Indian visitor, they ask how low the price can go. But we always say—look at the quality first. That is our policy.”
Regulatory Alignment: Matching Global Standards
Westpoint Pharma places significant emphasis on regulatory compliance. China’s pharmaceutical standards have rapidly evolved in the past two decades, and the company’s leadership has been directly involved in that transformation.
The spokesperson brings rich regulatory experience to the company, having studied and worked in Germany—earning a degree at Berlin University and working six years in the country before returning to China.
“When I came back, my job was to help Chinese companies upgrade their regulations. I also supported the government in adopting new GMP standards.”
Earlier, Chinese GMP required re-certification every two years due to inconsistencies. The spokesperson was among those who pushed for full alignment with European standards.
“Chinese GMP is now 100% the same as European GMP. I convinced them to accept the European version and translated it for them.”
This global perspective now reflects in the company’s own operations. It has registered its products with China’s regulatory authorities and the US FDA, allowing smoother entry into many other markets that accept FDA oversight.
“Our regulatory compliance is fully aligned with international expectations,” Xiao affirms.
Strong R&D Across Products and Equipment
R&D is another pillar of Westpoint Pharma’s strategy. The company has dedicated research facilities in South China, near Guangzhou and Shanghai, where teams work on:
• Functional performance enhancement of excipients
• New excipient grades for complex formulations
• Process optimisation
• Equipment innovation to improve consistency and purity
“In the past 25 years, everything I have been doing is helping Chinese companies enter the world market,” he says. “Just producing a product is easy. But opening the market is a lot of work.”
The company’s R&D doesn’t only improve products—it helps align Chinese pharmaceutical systems with international expectations, a knowledge base that strengthens Westpoint Pharma’s credibility.
Opportunities Over Challenges
While most exporters cite challenges in logistics, regulations, or competition, Westpoint Pharma views the global excipient market through a different lens.
“We don’t see challenges; we see chances,” Xiao asserts.
The excipient market is defined by performance and technology, not just volume. Good-quality suppliers are always few, and the global need for high-performance excipients continues to grow with:
• Novel drug formulations
• High-potency APIs
• Modified-release technologies
• Biopharmaceutical expansion
Westpoint Pharma aims to position itself in this high-value space, not in the price-war segments.
Westpoint Pharma is still a young company, but it is powered by experienced leadership, strong regulatory alignment, growing domestic success, and a clear international strategy. With its focus on superior quality and pharmaceutical-level functionality, the company aims to become China’s leading excipient supplier—and a trusted global partner.
India, South Asia, and the Middle East remain the company’s immediate expansion priorities. With the right partners, Westpoint Pharma believes it can deliver not just competitive pricing, but a new benchmark of quality for emerging markets.
As global pharma companies look for reliability, functionality, and compliance from their excipient suppliers, Westpoint Pharma is preparing to take its place among the next generation of international players.
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