Insulin market feels the speed and passion!

On April 15, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals officially announced that following the successful completion of two randomized, multi-center, phase III studies of insulin glargine in Europe and the United States, the pen-type insulin injection pen jointly registered with a local company in Thailand was launched in Thailand
.
It is reported that the insulin pen can be used with Gan & Lee Pharmaceutical 3mL cartridge insulin injection
.
According to its financial report, in the first half of 2021, its international business increased by 171.
70% year-on-year
.
A few days ago, Tonghua Dongbao, another insulin pioneer, received approval from German regulators for three Phase I clinical trials of its soluble glargine lispro double insulin injection
.
Domestic enterprises speed up their deployment in overseas markets
.
Also today, the online application for the sixth batch of national centralized procurement (insulin special projects) for a total of 6 procurement groups was launched in Hainan Province
.
According to the official deployment, the results of the sixth batch of national procurement in May will be officially implemented.
Guangdong, Shanghai, Heilongjiang and other provinces have successively issued notices of hanging on the Internet, and the adjustment of the domestic insulin market has entered a countdown stage
.
Whether at home or abroad, the insulin market is quietly playing a fast and furious battle of offense and defense
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The domestic market is anxious: rising stars challenge the three giants China's insulin market is being reshuffled.
In order to consolidate its dominant position, traditional dominant companies have stepped up to introduce new products to build a moat
.
Novo Nordisk's world's first basal insulin GLP-1RA injection, Novozymes, was launched in China last month, in response to the new competitive landscape where insulin is about to go online
.
According to the selection results announced by the sixth batch of national centralized procurement (insulin special projects) in November 2021, 42 products from 11 pharmaceutical companies were selected
.
Different from the previous centralized procurement of other varieties, in the special centralized procurement, multinational pharmaceutical companies are quite active: Eli Lilly's protamine zinc recombinant lispro insulin cable mixture (25R) was selected with a drop of about 74%; the decline ranged from 40% to 50%.
There are 27 varieties with a drop of more than 50%, and 15 varieties with a decrease of more than 50%
.
Just looking at the decline, you can smell the taste of fierce game
.
Taking insulin glargine as an example, from an average of 180 yuan per bottle to about 70 yuan per bottle, the price reduction is very large
.
In the past, the diabetes drug market was mostly led by the three giants Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi
.
The terminal data of China's urban public hospitals, county-level public hospitals, urban community centers and township health centers shows that in 2020, Novo Nordisk alone will occupy about 46% of the domestic insulin and its analogs market, and Sanofi will occupy About 15%, Lilly accounted for about 11%, accounting for more than 70% of the market share in total, but after the implementation of national procurement, the pattern is about to change
.
Among the 42 selected products, 25 are domestic brands
.
Taking Tonghua Dongbao as an example, it is expected that the net profit achieved in the first quarter of 2022 will increase by about 142.
63% year-on-year
.
Analyzing its product strategy, the company's second-generation insulin has obvious advantages after the implementation of centralized procurement.
Through innovative transformation and production capacity layout, the cost of its second-generation insulin products has dropped by nearly 30%
.
Analysts said that Tonghua Dongbao will account for more than 1/3 of the total demand for second-generation insulin; what deserves more attention is Gan & Lee Pharmaceutical, which is the representative of the third-generation insulin in China.
, the in-hospital market has greatly reduced prices, and the out-of-hospital market has strategically adjusted prices, highlighting and strengthening the penetration rate of the sinking grassroots market
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In addition, Jiangsu Wanbang, Yichang East Sunshine, Hefei Tianmai, Zhuhai Federation, Zhejiang Hisun and other enterprises that have also obtained the qualifications to participate in the competition, the intensity can be imagined
.
Of course, multinational brands are also seizing the market.
For example, Lilly China's liraglutide has rapidly increased its volume after entering the medical insurance, and it will also have a differentiated advantage after the implementation of centralized procurement in the future
.
Judging from the results of the sixth batch of national procurement, the actual contracted procurement volume is about 14 billion yuan
.
It can be seen that the competition between the third-generation insulin and the second-generation insulin is a race against time, and the latecomers are rising strongly
.
Overseas Markets: Internationalization of Technology and Price Game In addition to the Chinese market, the global market is also a new topic of strategic competition for many companies
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From the perspective of the global market, Novo Nordisk's diabetes business revenue will reach US$17.
996 billion in 2021, accounting for 80% of the company's total revenue, maintaining its position as the leader in the diabetes field
.
Among them, insulin revenue was $8.
904 billion, GLP-1 drug revenue was $8.
521 billion, and other drug revenue was $571 million
.
Lilly, which has long been competing for the leading position with Novo Nordisk, is still struggling to catch up
.
In 2021, Lilly's diabetes business revenue will be US$13.
188 billion, accounting for 47% of the company's total revenue, ranking second in the global diabetes field
.
In the past three years, Lilly's diabetes business revenue has shown a slight decline in the proportion of the company's total revenue, and the proportion in 2021 will drop by 3% compared with 2019
.
Compared with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, Sanofi's diabetes drug pipeline is more focused, and its main products are only 3
.
Insulin glargine is its heaviest insulin drug that competes with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, but with the launch of Eli Lilly's insulin glargine analogs, Sanofi's sales began to decline rapidly, and in 2021 Sales were only $2.
96 billion
.
In this context, the three giants have successively resorted to ruthless moves: Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly launched long-acting GLP-1 drugs, Sanofi's short-acting drug lixisenatide was "faded", but GLP-1 drugs In the market, the two giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are fighting fiercely
.
Lilly's dulaglutide successfully surpassed Novo Nordisk's liraglutide after its launch in 2014
.
However, Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drug semaglutide injection was launched in 2017, and its oral dosage form was successfully developed in 2019, which is also changing the pattern
.
Under pressure, Lilly focused on developing GLP-R/GIPR dual-target agonist Tirzepatide to compete with it, and the three giants aimed at each other
.
How much time is left for local brands in such an international competitive environment? In 2020, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals raised 2.
441 billion yuan when it went public, focusing on increasing investment overseas to seek market growth, and has obtained the drug registration approval for insulin glargine injection in Kazakhstan, as well as drug registration certificates in nearly 20 countries around the world, including The United States, Europe, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia and other countries with difficult market access
.
This is the only way to target overseas markets after a sharp price reduction in the domestic market
.
However, how high are the barriers to large-scale production? What is the future of high-level innovative drug R&D capabilities? The game of technology and price still needs to be tested by the market, but the arrow is on the line, and the international insulin market will also welcome more powerful players
.