Behind the tens of billions acquisition: a face-lifting needle stirs up the beauty of medicine

A face-lifting needle, tens of billions of new track, some people have been laid out for a long time, some people are catching up, and others are standing at the entrance of the track and watching
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Recently, around the botulinum toxin (face-lifting needle) dispute, Kangqiao Capital intends to participate in the acquisition of 46.
9% of Hugel by 1.
7 trillion won (approximately RMB 9.
43 billion), which will once again bring back the lawsuit between Sihuan Pharmaceutical and Kangqiao Capital.
Public vision
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With the fermentation of the lawsuit between Sihuan Pharmaceutical and Kangqiao Capital, more and more domestic media began to pay attention to the matter and dig deeper into the situation behind the case.
The Korean market has also raised questions about whether Kangqiao Capital has the qualifications for acquisition
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At present, due to the relationship between Korean domestic public opinion and the Korean government's administrative approval, the acquisition is still full of variables, which reflects that the capital market's competition for the domestic botulinum toxin market has gradually entered a fierce stage
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Sihuan Medicine has been sharpening its sword for eight years.
At one time, botulinum toxin is also known as botulinum toxin or botulinum endotoxin.
It is a bacterial exotoxin produced by botulinum during the growth and reproduction process.
It can block nerve impulses or paralyze muscles.
It has the effect of wrinkle-removing and face-lifting, and it is currently one of the most popular light medical beauty projects
.
In 2019, China's formal botulinum toxin market reached 3.
6 billion yuan, with a compound growth rate of over 30% from 2015 to 2019
.
However, China's regular botulinum toxin sales scale is only about 1/6 that of the United States, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in the scale of botulinum toxin consumption
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Some institutions predict that from 2020 to 2024, the domestic botulinum toxin market size will continue to maintain an average annual growth rate of 17.
5%, and the market size will be close to 10 billion yuan in 2024
.
As early as 2014, Sihuan Pharmaceutical had a foresight to deploy the botulinum toxin pipeline early, and signed an exclusive distribution agreement with South Korean biopharmaceutical company Hugel to jointly develop botulinum toxin products (Letbau).
In the following seven years, Sihuan Medicine has spent a lot of manpower and material resources for the clinical, registration and application approval of the product
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In 2017, Le Tibao carried out the third phase of clinical research in Mainland China; in October 2020, Le Tibao became the fourth type A botulinum toxin approved for marketing in China, and it was officially sold in February of the following year
.
Due to its high purity (99.
5% of 900kDa effective protein), high effect (the same effect as Botox, which has been approved for marketing and represents the highest level of botulinum toxin), and high quality (the product has a uniform and stable effect) With the “three high effects” of Le Tibao, Le Tibao quickly increased its volume once it was officially sold
.
In just four months from February to June 2021, Le Tibao has sold more than 200,000 bottles and achieved revenue of 258 million yuan, which has brought substantial cash flow returns to Sihuan Pharmaceutical
.
The company's stock price also soared from 0.
774 Hong Kong dollars per share at the beginning of the year to a maximum of 3.
934 Hong Kong dollars per share, a 3.
16 times increase
.
Since then, the acquisition of Hugel's equity in Kangqiao and Hugel once brought the market fears that Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s Le Tibao botulinum toxin agency might be withdrawn? Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s stock price has also fallen all the way to 1.
46 Hong Kong dollars per share
.
However, according to the agreement signed between Sihuan Pharmaceutical and Hugel, Sihuan Pharmaceutical has the exclusive agency rights of Le Tibau Botox for 5 years, and will not be affected by the change in Hugel's controlling interest
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Sihuan Pharmaceutical is a pharmaceutical company that started with cardio-cerebrovascular drugs.
The drug segment covers the fields of cardio-cerebrovascular, central nervous system, metabolism, tumors and anti-infection, and has made great achievements in innovative drugs
.
With regard to the long-term layout of the botulinum toxin market, this pharmaceutical company has rapidly grown into a heavyweight player in the medical aesthetics market
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In addition to Letibau Botox, Sihuan Pharmaceutical has adopted an innovative model of "self-research + agency" in terms of its medical aesthetics business, making the medical aesthetics business a new growth point for Sihuan Pharmaceutical's performance
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In the next three years, Sihuan Pharmaceutical has a number of new medical beauty products expected to go on the market
.
Among the self-developed products, Tongyan Hydrogel was officially approved in September, and heavy products such as Tongyan Needle and Girl Needle will also be submitted for marketing within three years.

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In terms of agency, the Korean Hugel hyaluronic acid products represented by the company are expected to be approved for listing in the country by the end of 2021, and the exclusive Korean Oriental absorbable suture products will also be sold before the end of the year
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Sihuan Pharmaceutical entered the medical beauty market with a high profile, successfully breaking the domestic botulinum toxin market, and a battle around botulinum toxin has begun
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The botulinum toxin market has grown from a dichotomy to the top four.
As a toxic hemp drug, the approval process for botulinum toxin in China is very strict.
The average cycle from R&D approval to phase III clinical trials is 8-10 years; even if it is directly introduced overseas Certified products require at least 5-6 years of approval process from clinical trials to approval
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Therefore, before the second half of 2020, there are only two botulinum toxin products approved by the CFDA in the domestic market, namely Lanzhou Bio-Henry and Allergan's Botos
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According to Frost & Sullivan data, in 2019 China's medical beauty botulinum toxin market, in terms of sales volume, Hengli and Baotuo accounted for 74.
3% and 25.
7% respectively; in terms of sales amount, Hengli and Baotuo accounted for appropriate proportions.
The ratios were 44.
4% and 55.
6% respectively
.
2019 China's medical beauty botulinum toxin market competition landscape (according to sales volume) ◆ Botox is the world’s first botulinum toxin product and a leader in the botulinum toxin market.
It was approved by the CFDA for cosmetic use in 2009.
Enter the Chinese market
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The main advantage in the market is that it has a small dispersion range, safety and stability, and is mainly used in the field of wrinkle and anti-aging, and is aimed at people who are not sensitive to prices
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◆Hengli Hengli is the only legal domestic botulinum toxin for injection in China.
It was approved as a new medicine in China in 1993 and was only approved for plastic surgery in 2012
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The main advantage of Hengli in the market lies in the price.
Due to the relatively high dispersion of Hengli, it is mainly used in medical and aesthetic fields with relatively large muscle areas such as face-lifting, thin shoulders, and thin legs.
It is more cost-effective than Botos.

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In the second half of 2020, Jishi of France's Ipsen (IPSEN) and Le Tibau of South Korea's Hugel have been approved by the NMPA.
So far, the number of approved botulinum toxin products in China has increased to four, and the dichotomy of the botulinum toxin market has been broken.

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◆Compared with other botulinum toxin products, Jishi Jishi's most significant advantage and characteristic is that the effective time is short, and the effect can be seen in only 1-2 days.
However, the effect of brand recognition is not as good as that of Baotou, so the price is low , And expect to compete for the market share of Botox with a price advantage
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◆Le Tibao Le Tibao is the No.
1 botulinum toxin product in South Korea.
The market is positioned for the more rigid demand for face-lifting.
Prior to this, it has established a certain brand reputation in China's parallel imports market, taking into account quality and price, and the goal is high The advantage of cost performance seizes Hengli's market share
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To sum up, Le Tibao and Ji Shi, who have just entered the market, will surely grab the Botox and Hengli market as soon as possible.
However, the domestic botulinum toxin market is still a blue ocean.
The four products have different target positioning and competition is not yet in place.
Fierce
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In view of the strict approval procedures for botulinum toxin products, in addition to the above four products, it will take at least 3 years for other botulinum toxin products to go on the market from research and development.
The existing four botulinum toxin products have a strong time window advantage
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Sihuan Pharmaceutical's goal is to allow Le Tibao to seize more than 30% of the market share within these three years, and thereby become the leader in China's botulinum toxin industry
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Latecomers A fierce battle destined to be fierce In addition to Sihuan Pharmaceutical, listed companies such as A-share medical beauty "Three Musketeers" Amic, Huadong Pharmaceutical, and Huaxi Biology have long been eyeing the botulinum toxin cake
.
In order to shorten the listing process, major domestic manufacturers have entered the botulinum toxin product market by acting as agents for foreign listed products
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◆In August 2020, Huadong Medicine signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Jetema, a listed South Korean company, to introduce its type A botulinum toxin products.
Huadong Medicine will obtain the exclusive agency rights of Korea Jetema’s type A botulinum toxin products in China
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At present, the domestic clinical registration of botulinum toxin of South Korea Jetema is progressing in an orderly manner, and it is expected to be approved in 2024
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◆Amic, one of the "Three Musketeers" of A-share medical beauty, chose to represent Hutox (orange poison) of Huons Bio, a South Korean company.
The botulinum toxin product has entered the third clinical phase and is expected to submit an NDA in 2023
.
In addition, Amic also holds a 25.
4% stake in Huons Bio through capital increase and acquisition
.
◆Huaxi Bio, the leading hyaluronic acid company, started earlier.
In July 2015, it established a joint venture company, Medytox Inc.
in Hong Kong with Medytox Inc.
, a listed company in Korea.
Clinical trials and product registration
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In addition to the schedule of botulinum toxin products under review in China, Xeomin (Western Malaysia) from Germany, Nabota from Daewoong Pharmaceutical of South Korea, and Botox RT002 from Revance of the United States, represented by Fosun Pharma, have all been in clinical applications.
Or the listing approval stage
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It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, domestic botulinum toxin products will increase exponentially, and the entry of major medical and beauty giants will completely change the current competitive landscape, and the competition for the botulinum toxin market will become more intense
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However, this may be a good thing for consumers, with more product choices and cheaper prices
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Summary The success of Kangqiao Capital's acquisition of Hugel in South Korea is not known, and regardless of whom Hugel is acquired, Sihuan Pharmaceutical has the exclusive right to represent Le Tibao Botox for 5 years
.
Within three years, the domestic botulinum toxin product market is still an incremental market, and it is in a rare window period.
Le Tibao, an agent of Sihuan Pharmaceutical, is likely to occupy a large market share and contribute a certain amount of revenue and performance growth to Sihuan Pharmaceutical
.
There is no doubt that more new products will emerge in the botulinum toxin market in five years, and competition will inevitably intensify.
By then, Sihuan Pharmaceutical’s position in the botulinum toxin market and the entire medical aesthetics market will continue to be concerned
.