Antigen test kits are sold out! Many big sellers enter the market to compete for the 600 billion market

Since the epidemic policy was relaxed, the demand for domestic antigen test kits has soared, and it can be said that "one box is hard to come by."

The sales of related products on major e-commerce platforms have also increased exponentially , and many stores have even sold out .

Overseas , the use of antigen testing reagents has become very common.

Starting from 2021 , organizations such as the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control began to support and recommend the use of COVID-19 antigen testing kits.

According to customs statistics , the export value of diagnostic reagents (mainly new coronavirus antigen reagents) in China in 2021 reached 56.7 billion yuan , and Jiuan Medical was the only one to dominate the overseas antigen test kit sales list.

Crazy profit! Jiuan Medical has won several billion-yuan orders with its antigen test kits

As the global epidemic situation recurs, the sales of epidemic prevention products have remained high, especially in the United States where home testing is popular, and the demand for COVID-19 antigen detection kits has increased significantly. iHealth Medical once revealed in its semi-annual report that iHealth COVID-19 test kits contributed 99.08% of the company's revenue in the first half of this year .

Last month, iHealth signed a contract with the U.S. DLA (Department of Defense Logistics Agency) on behalf of the U.S. HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) for the purchase of COVID-19 antigen home self-test OTC kits , winning a large order of 1.367 billion yuan .

The reason why it can continue to receive large orders from the United States is that as early as November 2021, iHealth obtained the U.S. FDA EUA authorization for the COVID-19 antigen home self-test OTC kit.

Since then, iHealth has received orders totaling more than 10 billion yuan from the U.S. government and other institutions .

iHealth's test kit products are sold in the U.S. market by its U.S. subsidiary through both To B and To C formats. Orders mainly come from the government, commercial customers, Amazon's e-commerce platform, and the U.S. subsidiary's official website.

At present, iHealth's iHealth brand has accumulated a certain reputation on Amazon, and its iHealth test kits have firmly topped Amazon's industrial science and testing kits bestseller list.

Many medical companies have benefited from product dividends and obtained registration certificates!

In addition to iHealth, Kangtai Medical has also reaped the benefits of medical products.

Kangtai Medical belongs to the medical device industry and is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of medical diagnostic and monitoring equipment. Its products cover multiple categories including blood oxygen, electrocardiogram, ultrasound, monitoring, blood pressure, analysis and testing, etc. Its profits also come from the above-mentioned products.

According to relevant data statistics, as of the end of 2021, Kangtai Medical's products have been sold to more than 150 countries and regions around the world, and the above main business revenue accounts for more than 99.57% of its sales revenue.

Overseas, Kangtai Medical also sells its products through multiple e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and AliExpress. Its export sales exceeded 260 million from 2018 to 2021.

At present, Kangtai Medical's new coronavirus antigen detection kit has obtained the registration certificate from the competent authorities of the European Union and has been included in the "white list" of epidemic prevention materials exported by the China Chamber of Commerce for Export of Medicines and Health Products. It can be sold in EU countries and countries/regions that recognize the EU CE certification, and the overall production capacity is relatively sufficient. At the same time, the company is also actively promoting the domestic registration plan.

Jiuqiang Bio has also identified the business opportunities in antigen test kits, with its main target markets being European countries such as Italy.

In April of this year, Jiuqiang Bio's new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) antigen detection kit (latex method) product has obtained EU CE access qualification and can be sold in EU countries and countries that recognize the EU CE certification.

At the same time, the company is actively promoting the application for a domestic new coronavirus antigen testing registration certificate. The National Medical Products Administration has accepted the company's registration application, and the registration process is in progress. The domestic market will also be focused in the future.

In addition to the above-mentioned big sellers, another company that has reaped the benefits of overseas operations during the pandemic is Mindray Biotech . At the beginning of the outbreak, Mindray Biotech developed a highly advantageous COVID-19 nucleic acid testing product and then promoted its sales overseas. In 2020 alone, the company 's profits exceeded the total profits of the past decade .

In addition to overseas markets, Mindray Biopharma's COVID-19 nucleic acid testing market share in China has also been steadily increasing, with its domestic market ranking rising from sixth in 2020 to third in 2021 .

It is understood that the new coronavirus antigen detection kit developed by Mindray Biopharma has obtained the "Medical Device Registration Certificate" issued by the National Medical Products Administration in the first half of this year. The company's new coronavirus antigen detection reagent production capacity can reach 8 million doses per day.

In response to the current surge in demand for COVID-19 antigen testing kits , Mindray Biopharma recently responded that although the company 's COVID-19 nucleic acid testing reagent production line and COVID-19 antigen testing reagent production line cannot yet be shared , the company will currently adjust production capacity through active recruitment and multiple shifts to ensure the production of antigen testing kits.

With the gradual optimization of epidemic prevention and control policies, many places have announced that they will no longer conduct nucleic acid testing for all people according to administrative regions, and encourage families to prepare their own antigen test kits .

Some research institutions believe that after the epidemic is completely relaxed, referring to overseas policies and assuming that antigens are tested twice a month at the lowest frequency, the monthly market size of domestic COVID-19 antigen testing kits is expected to reach 17.7-26.6 billion yuan, and the annual market size may reach 212.4-319.2 billion yuan. Combined with the fact that Chinese residents and enterprises have the habit of stockpiling, the monthly market size of COVID -19 antigen testing products may reach 56 billion yuan, and the annual market size is expected to reach 600 billion yuan.

According to overseas experience, in the first phase, many COVID-19 antigen detection kits will be registered and approved. Currently, many companies have seized the market opportunity and taken the lead in registration and approval. According to statistics, the National Medical Products Administration has approved 42 COVID-19 antigen detection kits.

The second stage is that relevant government departments will begin centralized procurement and then distribute the new coronavirus antigen testing kits to the public free of charge . This stage will drive a substantial increase in the performance of antigen-related companies .

During the outbreak of the epidemic overseas, many countries including Europe and the United States have implemented free nucleic acid testing or antigen testing . For example, the United States and the United Kingdom have distributed free COVID-19 antigen test kits , and France and Germany have provided free nucleic acid testing and antigen testing to the public. However, the United Kingdom has currently suspended the distribution of free nucleic acid antigen test kits due to financial pressure. In early September this year, the United States suspended the free provision of COVID-19 antigen test kits . In the future, it will become very difficult for many medical giants to obtain government orders.

Currently in Europe, only Austria and Denmark still provide free nucleic acid and antigen tests.

This means that the growth of the overseas antigen detection market has slowed down and there are still many uncertainties. It is expected that in the future, many domestic medical giants may adjust the business focus of antigen detection reagent products to the domestic market.

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