BEIJING, May 21 (Reporter Zhang Ni) The price of HPV vaccine has fallen so fast! For more than a year, the government procurement price of domestic bivalent HPV vaccine has dropped below 100 yuan. Vaccination sites in some first tier cities also said that at present, the 9-valent vaccine can be vaccinated without appointment.
From "one needle is hard to find" to "price war", the market competition has become white hot.
The price is as low as 63 yuan
Recently, many places, including Hainan, Jiangsu and Guangdong, announced the bid winning price of bivalent HPV vaccine procurement. The bid price of vaccines of Watson Biology and Wantai Biology has dropped below 100 yuan.
At the end of April, Guangdong Provincial Government Procurement Center announced the results of the second dose of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine procurement project for 2023 school-age girls. Wantai Biological's bivalent HPV vaccine won the bid at a unit price of 86 yuan. The bid winning prices of the same vaccine in February 2023 and July 2023 were 329 yuan and 116 yuan respectively.
Screenshot from the website of Guangdong Provincial Government Procurement Center
In Hainan, also at the end of April, Watson Biology, a competitor of Wantai Biology, set a new low for the bid winning price of bivalent HPV vaccine at a unit price of 63 yuan.
Screenshot from Hainan Provincial Government Procurement Network
Also look at MSD. In January this year, MSD China announced that its two dose vaccination procedure for women aged 9 to 14 years old with nine valent HPV vaccine had been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration of China. That is to say, although the unit price of single dose vaccination has not been adjusted, the cost of vaccination will be reduced from three doses to two doses, which is equivalent to "price reduction in disguised form".
From the difficulty of getting a stitch to "you can shoot when you come"
After expanding the age and reducing the number of vaccinations, the domestic supply capacity of HPV vaccine is continuously increasing.
In the past, women of the right age needed to make an appointment months in advance to get a shot of HPV vaccine, especially the 9-valent vaccine. Now some vaccination spots in the first tier cities can get an appointment free vaccination.
A staff member from the health care department of a secondary hospital in Haidian District of Beijing told China News Health that at present, women of the right age do not need to make an appointment to get the 9-valent vaccine in the hospital. They can get it as long as they come, and the price is 1300 yuan per shot.
However, at present, not all vaccination sites can be vaccinated without appointment. Some community health service center staff said that the vaccination of 9-valent vaccine needs appointment and queuing, because the demand for vaccine is still strong after aging.
It is undeniable that the total number of HPV vaccines issued in China has increased significantly in recent years. According to media reports, according to the data of China Academy of Food and Drug Control, in 2023, 574 batches of HPV vaccines will be issued in China, an increase of 29% year on year.
Data chart: Free HPV vaccination for girls of right age Photographed by Song Fuliang
Competition intensifies and profits of some enterprises decline
Earlier, several HPV vaccine companies announced their financial statements for the first quarter of 2024, and their net profits generally declined.
Zhifei Biology (MSD's domestic agent of nine price HPV vaccine) achieved a revenue of 11.396 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 2% year on year; However, the net profit attributable to the parent company declined to 1.458 billion yuan, down 28.26% year on year.
The revenue of Watson Biology in the first quarter was 600 million yuan, down 28.02% year on year; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 14.1275 million yuan, a decrease of 91.79%. Wantai Biological's revenue in the first quarter was 753 million yuan, down 73.93% year on year; Net profit attributable to the parent company also decreased to 126 million yuan, down 89.9%.
Screenshot from the first quarter report of Wantai Biology
As for the reasons for the decline in performance, Wantai Biology said frankly in the first quarter report that the main product of the company's vaccine segment, the bivalent HPV vaccine, was affected by factors such as the age expansion of the nine price HPV vaccine, market competition, and inventory reduction, and sales revenue and profit fell compared with the same period last year.
However, the import of 9-valent vaccine is still strong. According to the first quarter financial report of 2024 released by MSD, the revenue in the first quarter reached $15.8 billion. Among them, the sales of HPV 9-valent vaccine increased by 14% compared with the same period in 2023.
Of course, with the increasing penetration rate of vaccines, the market is becoming more and more "volume" has become an inevitable trend. At present, there are many domestic nine valent HPV vaccines under clinical research. Once the domestic vaccine is approved for marketing, it will affect the market share of MSD.
Data chart: HPV virus model and vaccine. Photographed by Wang Dongming
Domestic enterprises aim at overseas and male markets?
In addition to the "price war", the research and development of HPV vaccine is moving towards single dose and higher price.
In March 2024, MSD announced that it planned to carry out clinical trials of the nine valent HPV vaccine to evaluate the short-term and long-term efficacy and immunogenicity of the single dose scheme compared with the approved three dose scheme in men and women aged 16-26.
In the same month, Chengda Biology announced that the first phase clinical trial of "recombinant 15 valent HPV vaccine (Escherichia coli)" jointly developed by Chengda Biology and Kangle Guard was officially launched.
In addition, domestic vaccine enterprises have set their sights on overseas markets.
Watson Biology recently said that at present, the company is carrying out WHO pre certification of bivalent HPV vaccine, and simultaneously promoting cooperation projects with some countries to strive to realize the export of this product as soon as possible.
Wantai Biology also introduced the progress of going to sea in detail in its 2023 annual report. In addition, Wantai Biology also said on the investor interaction platform recently that the clinical trial of the male population of the company's nine price HPV vaccine has been planned, and the company will launch the clinical trial of this population according to the overall strategy and market demand. (End)
Edited by: Wu Jiahong