(Yicai Global) Feb. 6 -- Over half of China’s mainland-listed biopharmaceutical companies and medical institutions are predicting a deficit or a drop in profit in 2022 due to the recurrent Covid-19 outbreaks which led to less hospital visits and, as a result, less demand for their services and medicines, according to the latest data.

Of the 133 firms as of Feb. 4 to say they anticipate losing or making less money last year, 20 produce traditional herbal medicines, 29 make chemical agents and nine are medical service providers, according to data provider Choice, a unit of financial information website East Money. In all, there are 238 drugmakers and medical service providers listed on the mainland.

Luoxin Pharmaceuticals Group, for example, is predicting losses of between CNY860 million (USD126.9 million) and CNY1.3 billion in 2022, the first time that the drugmaker has logged a loss. The Linyi, eastern Shandong province-based company said the disappointing performance was due to the lockdowns which caused fewer visits to hospitals and as a result less sales of its medicines.

Nine hospitals and physical examination organizations, including Zhongzhu Healthcare Holding, Inkon Life Technology, Guangzheng Eye Hospital Group, Health 100, Xi'an International Medical Investment, Bright Eye Hospital and He Eye Specialist Hospital, also forecast a drop in net profit last year. It will be the first time that Guangzheng Eye Hospital and Health 100 register a loss.

Routine medical services dampened by the pandemic will likely recover rapidly now that the country has eased its pandemic prevention measures, Galaxy Securities said in a recent report. The brokerage is confident about investment opportunities in the pharmaceuticals sector this year, it added.

The reform of drug pricing also affected some firms. A number of medicines were removed from local governments’ medical insurance schemes, and instead bulk buying by the central government is being promoted.

For instance, Tibet Duorui Pharmaceutical’s sodium acetate ringer injection, one of its main products, is no longer covered by the local government’s medical insurance plan and it will take time for the firm to market the drug in the self-payment market, it said. Duorui Pharma is forecasting 2022 net profit to plunge between 64 percent and 72 percent year on year.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor