"Anti-aging drugs": evade supervision with "overseas brands" and still sell well after rigorous investigations

　　Our reporter Wang Yang, Cheng Siqi, Chen Ziwei, Yuan Huijing

　　In September last year, Xinhua News Agency published an investigative report on "What medicine is sold in the magical medicine of the age-old", which allowed the issue of "the age-old medicine" to evade supervision and the suspected false propaganda of efficacy advertisements were uncovered, which caused widespread concern in the society.

In January 2021, the State Administration for Market Supervision issued a letter on the investigation of illegally operating "anti-aged drugs", clearly launching a comprehensive investigation on the anti-ageing drug market.

　　A recent investigation by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters found that "anti-aging drugs" still circumvent supervision and are openly popular online under the banner of imported dietary supplements.

　　Under strict investigation, online sales are still hot

　　A few years ago, a professor at Harvard University in the United States discovered that mice equivalent to 70 years old of humans returned to their 20-year-old state after taking NMN for a week, and their lifespan was extended by 20%. The concept of longevity of NMN products spread from this.

As the concept of "anti-aging" has become popular with capital and the market, coupled with the celebrity effect of some well-known entrepreneurs bringing goods and investments, NMN products known as "anti-aging drugs" have attracted much hype.

　　However, NMN has not been licensed for medicines, health foods, food additives and new food raw materials in my country, and cannot be produced and operated as food.

To this end, the State Administration for Market Regulation proposed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of relevant food business operators, and found that there were illegal acts, promptly verifying and investigating in accordance with the law.

　　The reporter's investigation found that half a year after the investigation letter was issued, the NMN product market has remained enthusiastic.

Check the JD and Tmall platforms, NMN product brands have many brands, and sales are quite good.

Some vitamin products must be marked with "non-NMN" products to increase their exposure.

Taking the JD platform as an example, there are more than 5,600 products under the NMN keyword, and a single product has more than 5,200 reviews.

　　"Slow down the clock of life", "Being old is not a dream", "Prolonging life, rejuvenating old age"... "Anti-aging medicine" mainly promotes the effects of "anti-aging, repairing DNA, and preventing Alzheimer's disease".

"Although it has a certain effect in animal experiments, whether NMN is effective in humans has not been certified by clinical trials. The US Food and Drug Administration only approved NMN as a dietary supplement, and NMN has not been certified in China." Fudan University Public Li Shuguang, a professor at the School of Health, said.

Ding Sheng, dean of the School of Pharmacy at Tsinghua University, also believes that if blindly taking the so-called anti-aging drugs instead of drugs, it may delay treatment and cause health risks.

　　It is understood that my country has never approved NMN as a license for medicines, health foods, food additives and new food raw materials.

The reason why NMN can be sold on e-commerce platforms is mainly because it is included in the "positive list" of the "Announcement on Announcement of the List of Cross-border E-commerce Retail Imports" as a derivative of the vitamin B family, which is indirectly NMN. Inbound sales offer the possibility.

　　Although NMN does not have a legal status in China, under the temptation of high profits, many companies use domestic production and foreign "gold-plated" exports to sell domestically, and sell them on domestic e-commerce platforms under the name of "overseas brands".

The reporter noticed that as soon as the letter from the General Administration of Market Supervision came out, many e-commerce brands were "distinguishing their relationships" and proving themselves to be "overseas" flagship stores, or clearly referred to as "cross-border purchase" products.

According to the data from Tianyan Check, there are currently more than 450 companies producing and operating "anti-aging drugs" in my country, and nearly 30% of them were established after 2018.

　　The cost is tens of yuan, and the price is a few thousand yuan

　　At present, the price of "anti-aging drugs" on the market usually ranges from 900 yuan to 3,000 yuan.

Many pharmacy professionals told reporters that domestic chemical companies can already produce NMN raw materials at very low cost.

According to industry insiders, as an easily available chemical raw material, the purification cost of NMN is not high, and the main cost of the company is marketing and publicity expenses.

　　The reporter checked the prices of core raw materials on several major purchasing and wholesale platforms and found that the cheaper purchase price of NMN was about 1,000 yuan per kilogram.

If calculated according to the labeled content of a certain NMN product, the cost of a bottle of 60 tablets of NMN product is only about 10 yuan. If other auxiliary materials are included, the raw material cost of a bottle of "anti-aging medicine" is only tens of yuan.

According to the customer service of the online shop, a NMN product (70 capsules per bottle, priced at 2980 yuan) sold in the online shop requires at least 3 bottles for a course of treatment, which costs 8,940 yuan in total.

　　Zhang Kairui, the person in charge of a cross-border e-commerce platform in Shandong, said bluntly that some NMN product sales staff claimed that "high synthesis cost" was not true, and the high price of NMN included higher profits.

"Many NMN brands from the United States, Japan, and Australia are recruiting domestic agents. If you sell 50 bottles a month, you can get the goods at a price of 500 yuan a bottle. The monthly sales price of 80 bottles is 450 yuan, and the retail price of a single bottle is 450 yuan. At 2,200 yuan." Zhang Kairui said.

　　What makes people surprised is that the main business of a company with "anti-aging medicine" is actually feed additives. Only through a large number of acquisitions or equity participation in overseas health products companies, has it realized the transformation from the feed industry to the concept of "life-saving pill" stocks.

　　On multiple e-commerce platforms, many NMN product introductions directly slogans such as "Slow down the years, protect the youthful appearance", "Prolong life, rejuvenate" and other slogans.

Even some product detail pages will use words such as prevention of Alzheimer's disease, stabilizing the three highs, and softening and smoothing the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular vessels.

　　Other related products even claim to reduce the risk of cancer.

In the comment area of ​​NMN products, there are also "acclaimed praise", which makes people inevitably doubt the authenticity of their praise.

　　Regarding whether the sale of NMN is suspected of false propaganda, Hu Qin, a pharmacist in charge of the Department of Pharmacy of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, pointed out that if propaganda words such as "therapeutic effect" and "alternative drugs" are involved, it is suspected of false propaganda.

　　It is understood that the current health food functions recognized by the regulatory authorities include 27 types of immunity enhancement, anti-oxidation, and sleep improvement, and the rest are suspected of false propaganda.

　　Regulate the market and close the loopholes

　　Experts believe that the public sale of NMN products without relevant licenses in my country will not only affect the normal order of the market, but the food safety risks faced by consumers behind it can be imagined.

To solve the above problems, we need to start from many aspects such as policy improvement, platform supervision, and consumer education.

　　First, tighten the regulatory fence.

Liu Junhai, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, said that health foods that use raw materials not included in the health food raw material list and health foods imported for the first time should be registered in my country in accordance with the law.

In the face of possible conflicts between the “positive list” of cross-border purchases and the regulatory requirements of the domestic market, experts suggest that after a clear investigation of the market situation, the management rules of different policy documents should be unified in a targeted manner to prevent relevant parties from drilling policy loopholes.

　　Second, the e-commerce platform is incumbent on it.

Currently, domestic NMN products are mainly sold online through cross-border e-commerce and other channels.

Hong Tao, director of the Institute of Business Economics of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that in response to the use of cross-border e-commerce policies to evade supervision by “anti-aging drugs”, on the one hand, the regulatory authorities should focus on the characteristics of e-commerce platforms and shift from traditional supervision methods to online supervision with practical results. Regulatory changes; on the other hand, e-commerce platforms must take responsibility for product supervision, especially to strengthen the review of advertising and quality and safety to protect consumers' rights and interests.

　　Third, advocate rational health preservation. Wang Guangling, chief physician of the Clinical Nutrition Department of Jiangxi Provincial People's Hospital, believes that some artificially extracted vitamins or health ingredients like NMN cannot completely replace the benefits of a balanced and healthy diet. Li Shuguang suggested that before purchasing and using health foods, consumers should learn to distinguish and choose scientifically. “Official channels for consumers to scientifically check the authenticity of health foods and other products can be opened up, such as checking the product approval documents on the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation. Or find relevant authoritative departments for further verification to provide consumers with a reliable basis for rational consumption.”