April 8, 2020
China’s vaccine industry is primed for industrial
upgrading as supportive policies facilitate the R&D of new vaccines.
Chinese firms are actively developing vaccines, which
is an area that could offer a compelling investment opportunity as vaccines
enjoy rapid sales growth, are relatively protected against any large impact
from medical insurance policy changes and have stable product sales.
Supportive policies to facilitate R&D
of vaccines; domestic vaccine products to be gradually launched
Introduced in June 2019, the new law on vaccine
administration encourages innovation in the vaccine industry and promotes R&D
of combination vaccines.
Combination vaccines
Combination vaccines reduce the number of injections,
making vaccinations easier and cheaper. This is especially important as
children in China are getting more types of vaccines, with the expansion of
immunization programs.
A number of combination vaccines have gained ground
against separately administered vaccines (separate vaccines). For example, AC-Hib
combination vaccines (a combination of meningococcal vaccines against
serogroups A and C, and Haemophilus
influenzae type B (Hib) vaccines), DTaP-Hib combination vaccines (a
combination of vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and Hib), and
DPT-PV-Hib combination vaccines (a combination of vaccines against diphtheria,
tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and Hib) are replacing separate Hib vaccines.
Separate Hib vaccines as a percentage of overall Hib vaccines approved for
marketing in the domestic market have fallen from 95% in 2013 to 35% in 2019.
Figure 1: Breakdown of combination and separate
vaccines against Hib approved for marketing in the domestic market
Source: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control,
CICC Research
Figure 2: Breakdown of DTaP vaccines and combination
DTaP vaccines approved for marketing in the domestic market
Source: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control,
CICC Research
Combination vaccines could present an opportunity for
Chinese firms as the number of domestically developed combination vaccines is
still small, with the exception of DTaP and MMR, leaving a gap between
combination vaccines in the domestic and overseas markets.
Rapid growth in China’s vaccine
industry
The Chinese government has also encouraged holders of
vaccine marketing licenses to increase investment in vaccine research and
innovation. Moreover, regulators are prioritizing approvals for innovative
vaccines and much-needed vaccines for disease prevention and control.
This has helped the Chinese vaccine industry grow
rapidly. In recent years, domestic firms have launched some innovative vaccine
products. For example in 2018, a domestic quadrivalent influenza vaccine
product was launched in the domestic market, and in late 2019, domestic
13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and bivalent HPV vaccine products
gained approval for marketing.
Growth potential of China’s adult
vaccine market
While adult vaccines accounted for about 50% of the
global vaccine market in 2018, they accounted for a small share of the domestic
vaccine market, which could present a growth opportunity for Chinese firms.
Except for HPV, pneumococcal and influenza vaccines,
other vaccines have low vaccination rates among adults in the domestic market. Furthermore,
there are also fewer adult vaccines in the domestic market than in developed
countries.
The government offers some vaccines – mainly for
children – to the public for free at present. As people have become
increasingly aware of the importance of vaccines and household income is
rising, the government could increasingly pay attention to the role of vaccines
in disease prevention.
For more details, please see our report A new era to begin in China’s
vaccine industry published in April 2020.