Innovative drugs continue to usher in "soul bargaining", enterprises urgently need to change their competitive thinking

Not long ago, the results of a new round of medical insurance negotiations in 2021 were released.
Among them, 27 innovative drugs entered medical insurance in the year they were launched, which attracted great attention from the industry
.
For innovative drugs, being included in medical insurance through "price-for-quantity" is conducive to increasing the volume of innovative drugs and beneficial to the development of corporate brands in the long run
.
However, many people in the industry worry that with the advancement of centralized procurement and medical insurance catalogue adjustments, innovative drugs will continue to usher in "soul bargaining".
In the context of drug price reductions becoming a major trend, innovative drug companies may face pressure
.
For example, Hengrui Medicine’s 2021 semi-annual report shows that its leading product PD-1 monoclonal antibody (carrelizumab) has dropped by 85% due to the implementation of medical insurance negotiations in the first half of this year.
In addition, the product is difficult to enter hospitals and medical insurance in various places.
There were many problems such as different implementation time, and sales revenue experienced negative growth in the first half of the year
.
It is understood that the cost of innovative drugs is mainly composed of three parts: research and development costs, production costs and operating costs, of which research and development costs account for a high proportion.
In the short term, it is not easy for innovative drugs to recover these costs
.
Take the "Nine Phase One" as an example, this new drug for Alzheimer's disease has been studied in a large patient population for more than 22 years before being launched in China, with an investment of nearly 3 billion yuan, while the current annual sales of the product is only about 200 million yuan.
, Obviously a long return period is required
.
After entering the medical insurance, the price of medicines has dropped.
Although the volume can be increased, enterprises are also facing certain pressures, such as cost control, follow-up research and development, and competition of similar products
.
So, in the context of price cuts of innovative drugs, where should companies go? Some people in the industry believe that companies urgently need to change their competitive thinking
.
"You can't stay passively in a price war.
Companies should enlarge
their horizons .
" He pointed out that, for example, in terms of drug types, they can avoid the current crowded chemical innovation drug track and choose Chinese patent medicines and biological drugs, even in chemical innovation drugs.
On the track, there are also areas other than tumors that can be conquered, such as leukemia
.
In addition, companies can also actively embrace internationalization, allow innovative drugs to enter the international market, and carry out large-scale international clinical research, thereby alleviating the pressure of high costs and low returns faced by companies in the domestic market.

.
“The sharp price cuts of domestic innovative drugs may extend the R&D cost recovery cycle, and the adoption of appropriate overseas pricing strategies is expected to gradually recover costs in the international market
.
” In recent years, local pharmaceutical companies include BeiGene, Cinda Biotech, and Junshi The innovation of pharmaceutical companies such as Biology, Kangfang Biology, Legend Biology, and Hutchison Pharmaceuticals has accelerated and actively promoted the international layout
.
Data shows that as of November 2021, a total of 23 innovative drug varieties have been approved for marketing
.
Judging from the number of domestic Class 1 new drugs approved from 2015 to 2021, it can be said that it is increasing year by year.
Among them, the number of Class 1 new drugs NDA remains high, innovative drugs are accelerating the progress of internationalization, the number of MRCTs continues to grow, and the trend of local innovation and internationalization is increasing.
Intensify
.
The industry predicts that 2022 will be a crucial year for China's innovative drugs to go overseas
.
Of course, in addition to pharmaceutical companies making their own strategies, the industry also calls for guiding the capital market to increase support for the follow-up issuance of local listed companies with strong independent innovation capabilities to ensure that short-term stock price fluctuations will not affect the stability of R&D funds
.
At the same time, the policy side also needs to continue to exert efforts.
The current situation of domestically-made innovative drugs is more serious, and the policy can encourage enterprises to achieve innovative development with gold content
.
In fact, the policy side is already promoting clinical value-oriented elimination of low-level repetitive innovations
.
For example, in November 2021, CDE issued the "Clinical Value-Oriented Anti-tumor Drug Clinical Research and Development Guidelines", which puts forward higher requirements on the selection of controlled pharmacy/programs, and restricts a large number of repetitive and even me-worse innovative drugs.
Clinically, safeguard the interests of patients
.
With the release of this new regulation, the industry believes that the innovative drug industry will face a new round of reshuffle, and innovative drug products with higher clinical value and barriers will be more combative
.