Our reporter Zhang Min
Xiong Yue, a trainee reporter
With the adjustment and optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures, the market demand for medical supplies such as antigen detection reagents and cold medicines has surged, and offline and online purchase channels have been out of stock and delayed delivery.
However, the tight supply of medical supplies is expected to ease.
On December 12, after review by the State Food and Drug Administration, Zhengzhou Antu Bioengineering Co., Ltd. and Xiamen Weizheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. approved two new coronavirus antigen detection reagent products.
Up to now, the State Food and Drug Administration has approved 42 new coronavirus antigen detection reagent products.
Many companies disclose production capacity
Regarding the production capacity that the market is concerned about, many listed companies have disclosed the registration progress and production capacity of related products.
For example, Zhongshan Biology is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the listed company Daan Gene, which is a leading manufacturer of nucleic acid detection reagents.
A reporter from "Securities Daily" called Da'an Gene to inquire about its production capacity preparations. The other party responded, "At present, the company's production capacity can reach more than 1 million servings per day. The company will continue to provide high-quality and low-cost antigen detection products to participate in market competition."
On the evening of December 11, the antigen detection kit product has been included in the approved registration list of Jidan Bio announced that the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) antigen detection kit (latex method) independently developed and produced by the company has recently obtained the national "Medical Device Registration Certificate of the People's Republic of China (In Vitro Diagnostic Reagents)" issued by the Drug Administration.
Mingde Bio recently replied to investors that although the company’s new crown nucleic acid detection reagent production line and the new crown antigen detection reagent production line cannot be shared, the company has experienced the production capacity of the new crown antigen detection reagent in the first half of the year, and has the ability to quickly adjust production capacity.
"The company guarantees the production of antigen detection kits through various methods such as active recruitment and multiple shifts."
According to the investor relations record sheet disclosed by Ahuilong on December 4, thanks to the use of the reserve site, the company's production capacity will gradually increase from 4 million to 7.5 million.
However, in the next three months, due to factors such as the Spring Festival, labor costs will gradually increase; on the other hand, with the outbreak of antigen demand, the cost of upstream raw materials will also rise, and various manufacturers may also increase prices.
Yichang Technology, a manufacturer of parts related to antigen detection reagents, stated that the company can fully guarantee production capacity in terms of production sites, equipment configuration, and human resources. At this stage, the supply of orders for parts related to antigen detection reagents is normal. Arrange shifts according to volume and production capacity.
In addition to production capacity supply, insufficient logistics and distribution capacity of related products is also one of the factors causing the shortage of supply.
The reporter found on the Jingdong platform that the display pages of various antigen detection reagent products show that reservations are required, and the number of reservations reaches hundreds of thousands; or after an order is placed, it shows that the products are "purchasing".
On the Taobao platform, it takes 7 to 10 days for a variety of related products to be shipped.
However, it is difficult to find antigen detection products on the Meituan drug buying platform.
Regulatory action to control price chaos
Antigen detection reagents and other products are in short supply in the short term, and market chaos such as malicious price increases, price gouging, and unlicensed sales also frequently emerge.
In this regard, regulatory authorities in many places have recently taken action to crack down on illegal and irregular prices of epidemic-related materials, and some listed companies have also expressed their stance to resist malicious price increases and other violations of laws and regulations.
On December 10, the Beijing Market Supervision and Administration Bureau notified a case of investigating and dealing with the case of selling antigen kits at high prices.
The report shows that the party involved sold a certain brand of antigen detection kit (colloidal gold method) at a price of 229 yuan per box (the specification is 25 servings per box), and the price difference between purchase and sale was as high as 273.9%, which was much higher than that of similar products in the surrounding market during the same period. commodity.
In this regard, the Chaoyang District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau plans to give the party a warning and a fine of 200,000 yuan as an administrative penalty.
Prior to this, the market supervision departments at the national level and in Shenzhen, Jinhua and other places have taken actions to rectify the price violations of epidemic-related materials such as cold medicine.
Regarding the phenomenon of price violations at the sales end, many listed companies that produce antigen detection reagents have expressed their opinions, strictly requiring distributors and other partners to obey the national epidemic prevention and control policy.
According to the "Notice on Supervising the Quality and Safety of New Coronavirus Antigen Detection Reagents" issued by the General Department of the State Food and Drug Administration on March 12, 2022, during the epidemic prevention and control period, obtain a drug business license or a medical device business license , and retail pharmacies and medical device operators with corresponding storage conditions can sell new coronavirus antigen detection reagents.
At the same time, for medical device operating companies engaged in online sales, it is also necessary to urge them to display the medical device business license in a prominent position on the main page of the website, and display the medical device registration certificate and other information on the product page.
Li Dawei, a lawyer at Guizhou Guida (Shanghai) Law Firm, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that if the price violations of the sales-side business entities are only the behavior of the sellers deliberately raising prices and disrupting the market, then it should only be the behavior of the sellers. bear the responsibility.
If it is found out that the seller and the manufacturer did it jointly and distributed the illegal benefits, they should bear joint responsibility.
The specific circumstances shall be legally determined by the drug regulatory agency and the market supervision bureau based on the ascertained evidence.
(Securities Daily)