Our reporter Xu Jie Zhang Min Li Haoyue

　　At present, it is not difficult to see from the dizzying advertisements on hair care, hair growth and hair transplantation on the traffic platform that the "top priority" has spawned a hair market worth hundreds of billions of yuan, and has allowed Yonghe Medical and other hair transplantation companies to successfully land in the capital market.

　　The "Securities Daily" reporter noticed that the main business of hair transplant companies can often be divided into two major sectors: hair transplant and hair growth.

Among them, the unit price of hair transplant business is higher, which can reach tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 yuan; while the unit price of solid hair care business is relatively low, but due to the low consumption threshold and high repurchase rate, it has become a lot of hair transplant companies. Push the key business.

For example, Yonghe Medical, known as the "first share of hair transplant", regards the solid hair growth business as the "second curve" of performance growth.

　　It is also this "second curve" that has made Yonghe Medical gain more praise from securities companies.

On May 21, a brokerage research report that gave Yonghe Medical an "overweight" rating called it "the head brand of my country's hair transplant chain medical service institutions". Quality expansion, at the same time, actively expand the field of medical care before and after hair transplantation, and increase the upper limit of growth space. Strong medical ability, word-of-mouth advantages and efficient marketing build the company's core moat."

　　So, what is the truth of the "second curve" of Yonghe Medical's performance growth?

　　Scalp care put on "tech coat"

　　The reporter of "Securities Daily" noticed during many days of visits that "improving the scalp environment and preventing hair loss through hair care and hair care" is almost the "unified" publicity of most hair transplant and hair-fixing institutions including Yonghe Medical. Words".

　　Mr. Wang, who is troubled by hair loss, told the reporter of "Securities Daily" about his tortuous experience in raising his hair in Yonghe Medical.

　　"After the scalp test, I was diagnosed with M-type hair loss and signs of scalp recession by the staff of Yonghe Medical. At first, the salesperson recommended hair transplant to me, but I refused. Later, the salesperson recommended me three more For different types of hair care products, the most basic one is care and cleaning, the upgraded one has anti-aging effects, and the highest grade has a subtle hair growth effect." The staff also told Mr. Wang that the highest grade products do not guarantee hair growth effects. .

　　After some comparisons, Mr. Wang paid more than 10,000 yuan to buy a total of 20 "cleaning + anti-aging" packages, and the single price was over 500 yuan.

"I went to the store to perform 'cleaning + anti-aging' care as required. But after more than a month, there was no effect at all." Mr. Wang wondered: Is the seemingly professional "cleaning + anti-aging" useful?

Is it worth the price?

　　In order to understand the situation, a reporter from "Securities Daily" made an unannounced visit to Yonghe Medical's Beijing head office.

Yonghe medical staff first conducted a scalp test on the reporter, and then took the reporter to the doctor's room to check the scalp test report.

After diagnosis, the reporter was identified as first-level hair loss (the degree of hair loss in Yonghe medical system is divided into one, two and three, with the first level being the lowest).

　　After analyzing the test report, a staff member who claimed to be a doctor recommended hair transplant to the reporter.

After the reporter said that he didn't want to have hair transplanted, but just wanted to maintain his hair, the staff recommended a scalp care experience package worth 758 yuan and a group purchase price of 199 yuan to the reporter.

　　The service process of this care experience package is as follows: spray physiological saline to the scalp with an air pressure sprayer, apply Swanson brand pre-wash to clean the scalp, apply Swanson brand hair oil control maintenance solution, and finally massage and wash the scalp send.

After some operations, the reporter asked if Yonghe Medical's hair care service is only a scalp SPA?

The staff said: "You can do it yourself at home, but you can't enjoy such a service."

　　In addition to "enjoyment", it has to be said that "spraying physiological saline to the scalp with an air pressure sprayer" and "smearing prewash" also add a "sense of technology" to Yonghe Medical's services.

　　According to public information, the air pressure liquid jet instrument used by Yonghe Medical is registered by Wuhan Qizhi Laser Technology Co., Ltd.

Yaozhi data shows that the purpose of the device is to spray the liquid in the form of a mist onto the non-invasive skin surface of the human body to achieve a flushing effect.

But in fact, the reporter learned from a number of hair-fixing and hair-raising institutions that the use of air pressure sprayer combined with physiological saline to clean the so-called scalp environment has become the "standard" in the industry. The device sprays physiological saline on the scalp, which is effective in improving the environment of hair follicles, especially for patients with folliculitis, thereby preventing hair loss."

　　However, an unnamed director of plastic surgery told the "Securities Daily" reporter that normal people rarely suffer from folliculitis, and it is unlikely to cause significant hair loss, and it is even more impossible for normal saline to treat folliculitis.

　　In addition to the air pressure sprayer, another dermatologist from a top three hospital, who did not want to be named, said, "The role of prewash is equivalent to deep cleaning of the head. . If the patient applies the medicine after using the pre-wash, it will promote the absorption of the medicine. But if there is no need to apply the medicine, it means that the hair is just washed, and the effect achieved by the shampoo is the same."

　　The above-mentioned director of plastic surgery told reporters that his hospital does not provide pre-washing ingredients, and he personally does not believe that the scalp environment must be improved first to prevent hair loss.

　　The hair-raising business is suspected of hitting the edge

　　According to the 2021 performance report released by Yonghe Medical, the company began to provide medical maintenance services in 2019, and established a Swanson Medical Hair Center in hair transplant institutions in a "shop-in-shop" model.

"Other hair-raising institutions are at the beauty level, while Shi Yunxun is at the medical level." Zhang Yu, chairman of Yonghe Medical, emphasized many times in an interview with this reporter.

　　However, the reporter noticed through the Tianyancha App that on April 12, 2021, the business scope of Shi Yunxun Hair Care (Beijing) Co., Ltd. has changed, and the sales of Class I, II, and III medical devices have been removed from the business scope. At present, its business scope includes hairdressing services; sales of cosmetics, daily necessities, knitted textiles, wigs; technology development, technology transfer, technology consulting, technical services; economic and trade consulting; business management consulting; public relations planning; import and export of goods, technology import and export, Agent import and export.

　　Does this mean that the hair care business of Swanson Medical Hair Center is no different from that of a normal barber shop?

In this regard, Zhang Yu provided a screenshot to the reporter, which shows that "Shennan Shennan Shiyunxun Clinic, Shenzhen Shiyunxun Clinic and Guangzhou Tianhe District Shiyunxun First Clinic Co., Ltd." will be established in 2021.

Zhang Yu said that these are currently approved by clinics, which is different from hairdressing institutions.

　　So, do the hair-fixing and hair-raising services provided in the medical clinic mean "medical grade"?

Zhang Yu said that consumers can buy "minoxidil", "finasteride tablets" and other drugs at the Swanson Clinic, or use medical-grade equipment, which is different from ordinary hair salons.

According to the reporter's understanding, these are two commonly used drugs for the treatment of hair loss. Among them, minoxidil is an over-the-counter drug that consumers can buy in pharmacies, while finasteride tablets are prescription drugs that need to be purchased with a doctor's prescription.

　　The director of the plastic surgery department, who did not want to be named, told reporters that there is no such thing as "medical hair care" in medicine.

"I have seen many patients who claim to have done 'hair care', and some of them have done 'hair care' for more than a year, but this has not improved their problems. Many patients' hair loss is androgenetic alopecia. It's treatable, and it's more effective with medication than 'hair growth'."

　　Suspected of disseminating false data

　　In the "White Paper on the Hierarchical Diagnosis and Treatment System for Hair Transplant Doctors" released by Yonghe Medical in March 2022, a set of so-called "National Health Commission data" was recorded: In 2020, China's hair loss population will exceed 250 million, of which about 163 million are male. There are about 88 million people and women; in the same year, only 516,000 hair transplant operations were performed in China, with a penetration rate of 0.21%.

　　Earlier media reports said that the Propaganda Department of the National Health Commission had denied releasing the above-mentioned data.

Regarding the data in the "white paper", a reporter from the Securities Daily contacted the Publicity Department of the National Health Commission again, and the staff confirmed to the reporter that the above data had not been released.

　　The reporter asked Zhang Yu, chairman of Yonghe Medical, for confirmation on this matter, and he said that the above data does exist.

However, when the reporter asked him about the source of the data, he also said that the data was provided by a third-party agency.

　　As a public company, is Yonghe Medical responsible for the data it publishes?

At a time when hair loss has attracted much attention, is Yonghe Medical suspected of publishing false data to create anxiety?

　　In this regard, Zhao Ming, a partner of Beijing Zhongtong Law Firm, told reporters: "Article 28, Paragraph 3 of the Advertising Law stipulates that the use of fictitious, forged or unverifiable scientific research results, statistical materials, survey results, abstracts, citations The advertisements that use language and other information as proof materials are false advertisements. Based on the data, if the hair loss data used by Yonghe Medical has not been recognized by the National Health and Medical Commission, it is suspected of fictitious or forged data released in the name of the National Health and Medical Commission. It falls into the category of false advertising.”

　　Despite the controversy, medical care services have become an important source of income for Yonghe Medical.

Yonghe Medical disclosed that as of December 31, 2021, the number of patients receiving the company's medical care services was 105,275, an increase of 78.1% over 2020; the business revenue has also doubled, from 210 million yuan in 2020 to 582 million yuan in 2021, the proportion of operating income will increase from 13% to 26.8%, and the gross profit margin will increase from 73.8% to 73.9%.

　　It is worth mentioning that Yonghe Medical stated in its 2021 performance report that the company intends to continue to carry out R&D and innovation in the field of medical care services to further meet the diverse needs of patients.

However, according to Yonghe Medical's 2021 financial report data, the company's operating income is about 2.169 billion yuan, while research and development expenses are only 14.16 million yuan, accounting for less than 1% of revenue.

How does this support its "continuous R&D and innovation in the field of medical care services"?

(Securities Daily)