Analysis: The overall profitability of domestic medical device companies is weak

The business club reported on October 18 that "by 2020, China's medical device industry will reach a scale of 1 trillion yuan." Wang Hongguang, director of the China Biotechnology Development Center, said at the 64th China International Medical Equipment Fair.

"In recent years, especially in the past five years, the domestic medical device industry has achieved relatively rapid development. However, there has been no fundamental change in the situation of domestic manufacturing enterprises." Participating experts commented.

It is understood that from 2002 to 2004, the state invested 35 government-funded medical device projects with a total value of 300 million yuan; between 2006 and 2008, the national science and technology support project plan and the "863" plan invested 270 million yuan in scientific research in the field of medical devices. yuan. A reporter from the Medical Economics Daily learned during the interview that most people in the industry believe that the state should continue to increase investment in the medical device industry and create a standardized and healthy industrial development environment to narrow the gap with the international community.

Strong local brands are scarce

Statistics show that as of the end of 2008, there were 13,141 medical device manufacturers in the country; among them, there were 3,368 types of medical equipment, 7,533 type II medical equipment, and 2,240 types of medical equipment. With the exception of a few high-end medical devices, the country can basically produce the vast majority of medical devices needed.

However, "China's branded medical equipment and companies are too few." Chen Yazhu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Institute of Biomedical Instruments at Shanghai Jiaotong University, lamented.

At present, all major medical device companies in various countries are pegged to the Chinese market, established marketing, production, and research and development bases in China, and achieved a global localization and localization globalization strategy. GE, Siemens, Philips and other brands have occupied more than 80% of the market size of digital medical equipment in China.

Chen Yazhu cited medical analysis instruments as an example: In the field where the price of a single unit is higher than 100,000 yuan, imported biochemical analyzers account for 99% of the total domestic installed capacity; imported immune analyzers account for 100% of the total domestic installed capacity; Imported blood analyzers account for 100% of the total installed capacity in the country; and even if it is less than 100,000 yuan in such products, imported products still account for more than 80% of installed capacity.

According to statistics from China Customs, in the first half of this year, China’s imports of medical devices reached US$3.515 billion, and imports of implantable orthopaedic devices, magnetic resonance imaging devices, X-ray diagnostic equipment, and other high-end medical devices increased significantly. Imports of MRI imaging devices and X-ray tomography scanners exceeded US$100 million, and imports increased with double-digit increases.

In the same period, China's exports of medical devices amounted to US$6.573 billion, but of the top 10 companies in the export ranking, there were seven foreign companies and joint ventures. From the perspective of the composition of the entire exporting enterprise, foreign investment and joint ventures are the main force for domestic medical device exports. The domestic medical device companies still rely mainly on low-tech and low-price product exports such as “powdered cotton gauze bandages”, “needle tools, catheters, cannulae” and “massage apparatus”.

Low-end product defects in China

“Foreign multinationals can take a small part of profits to invest in R&D. Domestic companies only have 'a bowl of water' and a product research and development has to spend more than half of the water. How is this possible?” The development of China's medical device industry is lagging behind. For the reason, Chen Yazhu used a rhetorical question to answer.

"If the net profit is too low, the company does not have enough funds to invest in the research and development of large-scale high-end equipment. Without the support of high-end equipment, it will be difficult to bring high profits." Industry insiders say that the low-end, homogenization of products has led to the profit of medical equipment companies. The main reason for the low.

In fact, the low net profit is a common problem for domestic medical device companies. Even some medical device companies that are already listed are no exceptions.

According to the data disclosed by the listed company's 2009 annual report, Yangpu Healthcare's net profit margin was 19% last year, and Aier Ophthalmology was 15%. However, Yuyue Medical, Jiu'an Medical, and Kehua Hengsheng listed on the SME Board only reached 19%, 12% and 15%, respectively; the overall net profit rate was less than 20%.

The reporter saw at the 64th International Medical Equipment Expo exhibition scene that a domestically produced 200mA DR (direct digital X-ray imaging system) had a slogan of “398,000 yuan starting”. According to reports, Wan Dong, Neusoft, Zhongke Meilun, Yuexiu, Anjian, Lanyun, Hengrui Meilian, Prang, Xinhua, and other domestic companies of various sizes have all introduced DR, with different prices. In the range of tens of thousands of yuan to millions, the price of imported DR is about 3 million to 4 million yuan.

As a high-end medical device, DR was so surprised at the rapid progress of the industry that they were surprised, but they are still cautious about this: “Before launching a new product, it will take a long time, and soon there will be many entrants. The price will soon be very fast. It was pulled down."

1 trillion how to achieve

Although domestic medical device industry does not have disadvantages such as scale efficiency, foreign market monopoly, and high-tech barriers, the growing market demand and increased government support can still create favorable opportunities for the domestic medical device industry.

He Wei, Director of the Department of Science and Education of the Ministry of Health, said that in recent years, the government has increased its support for the biomedical industry, including medical devices, and cultivated and developed it as a strategic emerging industry. The domestic medical device industry should currently be low-end. Product production scale, intensification, in the middle of the product to take technology and market strategy, and the choice of high-end products, research and development alliance, military and civilian integration route, or can be made.

Based on the current market scale of about 200 billion yuan in domestic medical equipment, Wang Hongguang believes that efforts to achieve the industrial ideal of 1 trillion yuan still require many efforts.

Wang Hongguang suggested that the domestic medical device industry should focus its development on preventive health care, diagnostic testing, therapeutic surgery, rehabilitation, and medical information. At the same time, it should promote the leapfrog development of the medical device industry. This can be divided into Three steps - The first step is the stage of technology accumulation. By 2015, it will strive to achieve a total output value of 500 billion yuan. The second step will be the stage of industrial rise. By 2020, the industry will reach 1 trillion yuan; the third step will be the stage of continuous development.

"The biggest problem is the system." Chen Yazhu believes that the main reason for the backwardness of the domestic medical industry is still the system. The government should now increase its support for independent innovation in medical devices by helping to solve problems. Enterprises and institutions of higher learning should also change their concepts and distinguish their responsibilities in order to achieve a win-win situation.