Under the drastic "price reduction" of centralized procurement, where is the way out for pharmaceutical companies?

Since 2018, six rounds of centralized procurement across the country have been conducted, and the centralized procurement of the entire pharmaceutical industry has gradually become normalized
.
The range of varieties included in centralized procurement is constantly expanding, from chemical drugs to insulin, and the average price drop of the products selected in each round is basically about 50%
.
The price reduction of these centrally-purchased drugs has effectively reduced the burden of medication costs for patients and brought tangible benefits to patients
.
However, under the drastic "price reduction" of centralized procurement, there are many challenges for pharmaceutical companies
.
On the one hand, due to the price reduction of centralized procurement, the profits of many pharmaceutical companies have been affected, especially generic drug companies
.
For example, Beilu Pharmaceutical stated in its 2020 annual report that due to the influence of national centralized procurement in 2020, the company's hypoglycemic products achieved sales revenue of 70.
9535 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 19.
02%; Xinlitai also stated in the 2020 performance report that the company's 2020 The sharp decline in annual performance was mainly due to the fact that Xinlitai's product Taijia (generic name of drug: clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate tablets) failed to win the bid, and its revenue declined year-on-year
.
On the other hand, although the effect of large volume of selected enterprises in centralized procurement is obvious, it does not mean that “everything will be fine” if they are included in centralized procurement
.
Judging from the public information, many pharmaceutical companies have been punished due to various reasons after being selected for centralized procurement
.
For example, on August 20, 2021, the Shanghai Sunshine Pharmaceutical Purchasing Network issued the "Announcement on Placing North China Pharmaceutical Co.
, Ltd.
on the Violation List".
Because of the cut-off of centralized procurement, a pharmaceutical factory in North China was included in the "violation list", and In the next 9 months, they cannot participate in the national centralized drug procurement activities
.
For another example, in September 2021, the Henan Provincial Public Resource Trading Center announced the results of the evaluation of pharmaceutical prices and credit untrustworthiness in recruitment and procurement, and rated the two pharmaceutical companies in Henan Province as "serious"
.
According to the report, four drugs of one of the pharmaceutical companies have commercial bribery in Henan Province; the products of another pharmaceutical company have repeatedly experienced supply problems such as low distribution rates in Henan Province.
Supply cuts and other issues, and neither of them notified the centralized purchasing agency and purchasing unit in advance. .
According to incomplete statistics, there are currently about 20 pharmaceutical companies that have cut off their supply due to various reasons after being selected for centralized procurement
.
Market availability cannot be guaranteed
.
From a trend point of view, medical insurance cost control is still the main theme of medical reform
.
So, where is the way out for pharmaceutical companies under this background? The industry believes that under the normalization of centralized procurement, drug price reductions are inevitable, which will affect the profits of pharmaceutical companies in the short term, but overall, the net profit margin of the pharmaceutical industry is still at a relatively high level
.
In the long run, the centralized procurement policy is also conducive to the gradual return of generic drugs to the value itself, forcing pharmaceutical companies to actively carry out innovation and transformation.
After the previous rounds of centralized procurement, the market has been able to respond in advance
.
Therefore, pharmaceutical companies should actively embrace centralized procurement, scientifically control costs, improve capacity utilization, and achieve survival and profitability on the premise of ensuring patient groups' medication
.
For pharmaceutical companies affected by centralized procurement, it is necessary to strengthen their product lines, which can be to strengthen their own research and development capabilities, or to introduce this fast way through authorization
.
For example, in response to the impact of policies, some pharmaceutical companies have actively carried out consistency evaluation work.
At the same time, the anti-infection business has continued to accelerate innovation and transformation.
Through the introduction of new products, the overall capacity of the industry chain has been improved to cope with possible risks of increased competition
.