Wen/Wang Li Editor/Xu Zhe

Judging from the recent semi-annual reports disclosed by a number of vaccine companies, there is a clear performance differentiation among companies.

At present, listed companies of domestic vaccine enterprises are involved in different types of vaccine fields, representing the head enterprises including Watson Bio (300142), Zhifei Bio (300122), Hualan Bio (002007), Consino (688185), Kangtai Bio (300601) and so on.

With the disappearance of the new crown epidemic dividend, vaccine companies and capital markets are gradually turning their attention back to conventional vaccines, such as influenza vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine and cervical cancer vaccine, while the core technology platform represented by mRNA has become the core competitiveness of the head companies.

Flu vaccine batch issuance delayed, Hualan vaccine is expected to recover in the second half of the year

As a cost-effective measure to protect susceptible people from influenza, influenza vaccines were searched for in the first half of this year due to shortage.

In the first half of this year, some southern provinces have exceeded the winter peak in June, and the transmission to vaccine companies has also led to different performance characteristics.

As one of the beneficiaries of this early arrival of the "flu vaccine fever", Jindik ushered in a significant turnaround in the first half of 2023 after two consecutive years of performance decline.

on August 2, Jindik (688670) released a semi-annual report showing that the company's revenue in the first half of the year reached 0.127 billion billion yuan, up 675.48 percent from a year earlier.

net profit increased significantly year on year, reaching 35.081 million yuan, turning losses into profits.

for performance growth, Kindik said the high incidence of influenza in many places in the country in the first quarter stimulated flu vaccine sales and increased revenue. In the financial report, Kindick also pointed out that in the second half of the year, the company can only sell products using the 2023-2024 flu season strain, and there may not be enough inventory to provide during the peak season in September.

Public information shows that the influenza vaccines currently approved for marketing in my country include trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines, tetravalent inactivated influenza vaccines and trivalent live attenuated vaccines.

"If a quadrivalent vaccine is available, it will be recommended to vaccinate with one more subtype to provide broader protection." Shanghai Putuo Central Hospital respiratory medicine physician Wang Hui said.

As the largest manufacturer of tetravalent influenza vaccines in China, Hualan vaccine (301207) experienced a decline in performance in the first half of this year.

According to the previous mid -2023 financial report data released by Hualan Vaccine, the company achieved operating income of 0.15 billion yuan in the first half of the year, down 85.89 percent from the same period last year; net profit attributable to the parent was 0.108 billion yuan, down 63.71 percent from the same period last year; net profit attributable to the parent after deducting non-profit was 0.058 billion yuan, down 78.23 percent from the same period last year;

for the decline in performance, Hualan vaccine pointed out that the change of influenza strains in the northern hemisphere in 2023 and the delay of product batch issuance were the main reasons for this situation. In the second half of the year, the demand for influenza vaccination will gradually rise, and the performance is expected to recover.

At present, there are nearly 20 domestic companies such as Tiantan Biology (600161), Watson Biology, Baike Biology (688276), Chengda Biology (688739), etc. focusing on the research and development of tetravalent influenza virus split vaccine, and have entered Phase III clinical stage. The current domestic vaccination rate is low, the future, China's influenza vaccine market is expected to increase significantly.

the age of HPV nine-valent vaccine was expanded, and the number of Zhifei biological signatures doubled

As the most commonly used clinical vaccine to prevent cancer diseases, the monopoly of nine-valent HPV in the domestic market once caused a market shortage.

on the evening of August 28, zhifei biology disclosed its 2023 semi-annual report. In the first half of 2023, Zhifei achieved operating income of 24.445 billion yuan, an increase of 33.19 percent over the same period last year, and net profit attributable to its parent was 4.26 billion yuan, an increase of 14.24 percent over the same period last year. It is worth mentioning that after the nine-valent vaccine was announced last year, as Merck's only agent in China, Zhifei Bio's HPV batch in the first half of the year increased by 57.85.

It is worth noting that nearly 90% of Zhifei Bio's revenue in recent years has come from agency business. In January this year, the company successfully renewed its contract again and obtained the exclusive agency of Mercadon in the mainland. However, as more and more domestic HPV vaccine research and development matures, Zhifei Bio's market share in the agency business may face competitive pressure.

At present, five HPV vaccine products have been approved for marketing in China, including three imported HPV vaccines and two domestic HPV vaccines. The domestic vaccine is the bivalent HPV vaccine of Wantai Bio and Watson Bio.

As the first domestic HPV vaccine enterprise, Wantai Bio's bivalent cervical cancer vaccine Xinkening achieved good sales once it was launched in 2020.

In 2020, Wantai Bio's HPV bivalent vaccine reached 0.692 billion yuan in its first year on the market, driving the company's total annual revenue to 2.354 billion yuan, up 98.88 percent year-on-year, and the company's total revenue to 5.75 billion yuan in 2021, up 144.25 percent year-on-year. In 2022, "Xin Kening" sales reached 8.4145 billion yuan, accounting for about 75.23 percent of the total revenue. So far, Wan Tai Bio's total revenue has exceeded 10 billion yuan, reaching 11.185 billion yuan.

(data from wantai biological financial report)

in the first half of this year, Wantai biology began to decline compared with last year's high base. On the evening of August 24, Wantai Bio announced its 2023 semi-annual performance report. The performance report shows that in the first half of this year, Wantai Biological achieved operating income of 4.164 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 29.78; realized net profit of 1.702 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 36.78.

For the decline in performance, Wantai Bio said it was mainly due to the decline in sales of the new crown vaccine and the bivalent HPV vaccine. Although Wantai Bio did not announce the specific revenue share of the bivalent HPV vaccine in the semi-annual report, if calculated according to the revenue ratio in 2022, it is expected that in the first half of the year, Xin Kening's sales revenue will drop by nearly 30% year-on-year.

It is worth noting that the current market share of Wantai Bio is also squeezed by Watson Bio, the only domestic competitor. In March 2022, Watson Bio launched the second domestic bivalent HPV vaccine Wozehui, and Watson Bio once again hit the market with a price advantage, affecting the sales of the bivalent HPV vaccine of Wantai Bio.

The first half of 2023 report shows that Watson Bio's bivalent HPV vaccine batch issued 4.1439 million doses, an increase of 368.42 percent over the same period in 2022. However, export sales in the overall vaccine segment fell, resulting in a more than 7% YoY decline in Watson Bio's operating income.

At present, the domestic bivalent HPV vaccine has been divided by Watson Bio and Wantai Bio, and a number of vaccine enterprises have also turned their attention to the nine-price HPV vaccine research and development of the battle in China, the current Wantai Bio, Watson Bio, Recreation Guardian, Shanghai Bowei's nine-price HPV vaccine has entered the third clinical stage.

the new crown dividend disappears. concino's net loss is 0.84 billion yuan, mRNA becomes competitive

With the saturation of the track and the stability of the supply chain, the market for the new crown vaccine has shrunk sharply, and the performance of the new crown vaccine companies that have disclosed their annual reports has declined to varying degrees.

Concino disclosed the 2023 semi-annual report, achieving operating income of 25.9078 million billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 95.89; the net loss attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 0.841 billion billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6975.30.

Specifically, Concino's new crown vaccine was one of the products that dragged down performance. According to the financial data, the sales revenue of the new crown vaccine in the first half of the year was about 35.5689 million yuan, down about 94.26 percent year-on-year, compared with about 0.619 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Previously, Concino officially launched the recombinant new coronavirus vaccine Kwesha in February 2021, and was urgently approved in September to inhale the recombinant new coronavirus vaccine Kwesha fog excellent. The successful launch of these two vaccines boosted Concino's share price and results.

And with the decline in market demand for the new crown vaccine, the subsidiary, Concino, was discontinued due to changes in the market environment, affecting the production of the adenovirus vector vaccine Kwesha. In the secondary market, the share price of Concino Hong Kong shares also fell from a 793 high. As of the close of trading on the evening of September 6, the company's share price closed at 73.66 yuan per share, down nearly 90%.

In addition to the suspension of the Concino subsidiary, Wantai Bio's new crown nasal spray vaccine fund-raising investment project has also been terminated. In December 2022, Wantai Bio's nasal spray neo-crown vaccine was included in emergency use, and it is understood that the nasal spray neo-crown vaccine was administered by nasal spray to prevent diseases caused by neo-crown virus infection.

It is worth mentioning that although Concino has not completely abandoned the new crown vaccine field, financial data show that in the first half of this year, Concino has invested 49.4287 million yuan in the new coronavirus mRNA vaccine project, a total investment of 0.251 billion yuan, the project has now completed clinical Phase IIb trials.

Although the commercial value of the new crown vaccine is not clear in the future, mRNA vaccines have many significant advantages, including rapid development, no need for active virus, high safety, and strong immune response capabilities, which have attracted widespread attention and successful application worldwide.

According to Pfizer's 2022 earnings report, its new crown mRNA vaccine revenue was as high as $37.806 billion, up 3% year-on-year, with a number of domestic companies getting involved in the endorsement of the former international giants.

In August, Concino announced an mRNA vaccine collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca. Under the agreement, Konasino will provide contract development and manufacturing services to AstraZeneca to support its mRNA vaccine program.

In addition, CSPC's new coronavirus mRNA vaccine (SYS6006) has been included in emergency use in China, becoming China's first domestic mRNA new crown vaccine.

According to preliminary estimates, there are currently about 16 mRNA new crown vaccines under development in China. Although the epidemic is slowing down, it is not clear how much commercial value these vaccines will create in the future. However, the importance of laying out the mRNA vaccine field for getting involved in this emerging field cannot be ignored. This is not only for the diversification of the vaccine field, but also for the mR.The field of NA therapeutics seeks future innovation and development.