70% of the needs are not met!

Author | Flint Creation Xin Mingyu

In recent years, the State Council has promulgated policies such as the "Healthy China 2030 Plan" and the "National Nutrition Plan (2017-2030)", clearly proposing to carry out clinical nutrition actions, and the government's attention and emphasis on national nutrition has increased year by year

Nutritional therapy can enhance the effects of various clinical treatments, reduce infections and other complications, speed up patient recovery, shorten hospital stays, and reduce medical expenses.

01

Special medical food definition and industry chain

Food for Special Medical Purpose (FSMP), abbreviated as special medical food, is specially processed and formulated to meet the special needs of people with restricted eating, digestion and absorption disorders, metabolic disorders, or specific diseases.

Special medical food is a special food between medicine and food.

According to the "General Principles of Formulas for Special Medical Purposes" (GB29922-2013), according to the age of the users, special medical foods can be divided into special medical use infant formula foods and special medical use formula foods, of which the latter can be further divided into full nutritional types , Specific complete nutrition type, non-complete nutrition type

Complete nutritional formula foods refer to formula foods for special medical purposes that can be used as a single source of nutrition to meet the nutritional needs of the target population

Specific full-nutrition formula foods refer to formula foods for special medical purposes that can be used as a single source of nutrition and can meet the nutritional needs of the target population under specific diseases or medical conditions

Non-full nutritional formula foods refer to formula foods for special medical purposes that can meet part of the nutritional needs of the target population, and are not suitable for use as a single source of nutrition

Table 1: Types of Special Medical Food

Source: "General Rules for Formulated Foods for Special Medical Purposes" (GB29922-2013)

Participants in the upstream market of the special medical food industry chain include suppliers of formula raw materials required for the production of special medical food

Figure 1: Special medical food industry chain

Source: According to public information

02

The development status of global and domestic special medical food industry

From 2014 to 2018, the total annual global consumption of special medical food rose from 58.

Figure 2: 2014-2018 global special medical food market scale (unit: 100 million yuan)

Data source: China Investment Industry Research Institute

Figure 3: Global FSMP product distribution

Source: Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The demand and output of domestic special medical foods are growing rapidly, and the market size will exceed 10 billion in the future

Figure 4: Market scale of my country's special medical food industry

Source: China Research Institute of Puhua Industry

From the perspective of domestically approved products, as of May 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation has issued a total of 68 registered special medical foods, and 27 special medical foods have been registered, including two foreign-funded enterprises, Nestlé and Abbott.

Figure 5: Approval status of products of various enterprises

Source: State Administration for Market Regulation

In terms of product types, among the approved formula foods for special medical purposes, formula foods for special medical purposes for people over 1 year old, and formula foods for special medical purposes for children aged 0 to 12 months accounted for each Half of them have 34 products approved

Figure 6: Approval of formula foods for special medical purposes

Source: State Administration for Market Regulation

Figure 7: Approval of infant formula for special medical purposes

Source: State Administration for Market Regulation

From the perspective of geographical distribution, the currently approved special medical food companies have formed a pattern of "the eastern coastal area is the core, and the north and south regions are developed in coordination".

Figure 8: Distribution of approved special medical food companies and the number of approved products

Source: State Administration for Market Regulation

03

Research and Judgment on the Future Trend of Special Medical Food Industry

1.

In 2020, China’s population over the age of 60 will exceed 240 million, accounting for 17% of the total population

In addition, according to the "Report on the Status of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2015)" and "Epidemiological Trends and Forecasts of High-incidence Chronic Diseases in China from 1990 to 2025", there are nearly 300 million chronic patients in China, among which cardiovascular disease, stroke and The average annual growth rate of diabetes prevalence is more than 2%
.
As the main clinical nutritional support products for patients with chronic diseases, special medical food will receive more attention
.

Figure 9: Current status and trend forecast of my country's aging population

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

In this context, national nutrition has become a major livelihood project in China, and special medical food is an important part of national nutrition
.
In recent years, the State Council has successively issued the "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline" and the "National Nutrition Plan 2017-2030", making important arrangements for national health and nutrition
.

In terms of clinical value, previous clinical application practices in developed countries in Europe and America and China have shown that formula foods for special medical purposes designed through scientific research can effectively meet the nutritional needs of people in disease states, reduce their body tissue burden, and speed up their bodies.
Recovery
.

In addition, such products have good social value and economic effects, and have a positive effect on reducing consumers' medical burden and reducing national medical and health expenditures
.
According to statistics from relevant departments, through the nutritional support of special medical food, patients can save nearly 20% of medical expenses on average
.

2.
Facing the long-term imbalance between the supply and demand of special medical food in my country, governments at all levels have introduced relevant policies and measures to promote the development of the industry

Special medical food can provide a good foundation for patients' disease treatment and health recovery, and some can even be called "life-sustaining food" for patients.
However, the corresponding demand for special medical food in China has not been met for a long time
.
In terms of the overall market, China’s special medical foods account for less than 3% of the global market, which is far from developed countries.
From the perspective of clinical penetration, in the United States, 65% of malnourished patients are using special medical foods.
27%, while only 1.
6% in mainland China
.

The journal "China Food and Drug Administration" shows that at least 70% of China's special medical food needs have not been met
.
The serious imbalance between supply and demand in the special medical food industry has led to widespread malnutrition in our country, which in turn affects treatment and postoperative rehabilitation, and even leads to increased mortality, more complications, longer hospital stays, higher treatment costs, and higher rehospitalization rates and so on
.

In recent years, in the face of the long-term imbalance between the supply and demand of special medical food in China, the state has issued a series of policies and measures to accelerate the development of the special medical food industry, and also point out the future development direction and path
.
Among them, as the core management method, the "Regulations for the Registration of Formulas for Special Medical Purposes" was officially implemented on July 1, 2016
.
In April 2017, the former State Food and Drug Administration established the Special Food Registration Management Department, and the registration management system for special medical foods officially kicked off
.
With the advancement of a series of relevant practical measures, the development of China's special medical food industry has gradually entered the fast lane
.

Figure 10: National policies and regulations related to special medical food

Source: According to public information

On the basis that national policies have covered the registration and approval of special medical industry, production licenses, and relevant licenses for circulation, local policies and regulations have also begun to be released one after another, focusing on solving medical institutions’ charges, lack of industry talents, inconsistent industry standards, and patients’ demand for special medical food.
Many provinces and cities have issued relevant laws and regulations concerning the operation and use of special medical services
.
Hebei, Sichuan, and Jiangsu have issued drafts or trial plans for special medical foods to be included in the hospital's formal charging system, and Zhejiang has included 2 special medical foods for phenylketonuria into the scope of medical insurance
.

Table 2: Local policies and regulations related to special medical food

Source: According to public information

3.
Prospects for the future: policies, talents, and technology will work together to create a new "blue ocean" in the field of health

Special medical food is a multi-disciplinary industry, involving breeding, food processing, machinery manufacturing, clinical nutrition, food safety, industrial development, marketing, popular science and other aspects, requiring multi-disciplinary and multi-subject collaborative innovation
.

At present, more and more nutritionists, doctors, and clinical dietitians are paying attention to the clinical use of special medical foods
.
It is foreseeable that in the future, special medical food will combine the characteristics of China's national physique and dietary habits to establish a basic database for research and development of nutrition and health products, build a complete technical system from the perspective of the entire industry chain, and develop products that cover all diseases
.

At the same time, with the further improvement of a series of policies related to R&D, production, circulation, and use in the future, such as registration management and product testing, the special medical food industry is expected to usher in further breakthroughs under market regulations and become the next drug, The third largest health "blue ocean" after equipment
.