Every year, around winter (after October) and spring (around March), the high incidence of influenza season, and the risk of influenza epidemic this year is higher than before.
In June this year, seven provinces including Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, and Hunan encountered an influenza raid, and an influenza warning was issued urgently. 7 children in Shenzhen were sent to intensive care unit .
Recently, at a press conference held by the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism , Dong Xiaoping, chief expert of virology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that this summer, the peak of the A (H3N2) subtype influenza virus has appeared in southern my country. After expert judgment, the risk of a higher level of influenza epidemic this fall and winter is relatively high. At present, the world is still in the COVID-19 pandemic, so in the fall and winter or winter and spring this year, there may be a risk of influenza and COVID-19 combined with the epidemic.
has entered September, and many places have begun to cool down. It is the time to get influenza vaccination around October. At present, many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo , and Zhengzhou have recently started influenza vaccination work. Some cities have also carried out free vaccination for people who meet the conditions.
At the end of August this year, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention urgently released the latest "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention of Influenza Vaccination in China (2022-2023)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Technical Guidelines"), which pointed out that people are generally susceptible to influenza virus, and high-risk groups such as pregnant women, infants, the elderly and chronic patients have more serious harm after influenza infection. Getting influenza vaccinated every year is an effective means to prevent influenza and can significantly reduce the risk of influenza and serious complications in vaccinated people.
01
Who needs to get the flu vaccine?
In the context of the global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, once the flu activity recovers, it may bring a burden of superposition effect. The annual flu outbreak period not only poses a serious threat to the health of the amblyopia group, but also has a considerable burden on medical institutions.
Influenza seasonal epidemics worldwide each year can cause 3-5 million severe cases and 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory disease-related deaths. Therefore, is very necessary for the elderly and children to receive flu vaccines regularly every year.
Therefore, if there are no vaccination taboos, the Technical Guidelines are also recommended in the "Technical Guidelines" to receive influenza vaccination every year. The following groups are preferred for vaccination:
1) Medical personnel, including clinical personnel, public health personnel and health quarantine personnel;
2) Vulnerable groups and employees in places where people gather in nursing homes, long-term care institutions, welfare homes and other places;
3) People in key places. Such as childcare institutions, primary and secondary school teachers and students, prison detention center staff, etc.;
4) Other high-risk groups, such as: people aged 60 and above, children aged 6 months to 5 years old, patients with chronic diseases, family members and caregivers of babies under 6 months of age, pregnant women or women who are preparing to get pregnant during the flu season.
Children are susceptible to influenza. During the flu epidemic season, the incidence rate of influenza in children is about 20% to 30%. In some high-end seasons, the annual infection rate of influenza in children can be as high as about 50%. Getting influenza vaccination is still the most effective way to prevent influenza. Both the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend routine influenza vaccination to prevent influenza in children.
The elderly are prone to serious complications after suffering from influenza, and the risk of severe illness and death is higher. In 2018, a model study on the global excess influenza mortality rate showed that the excess respiratory mortality rate associated with influenza was 0.1-64/100,000 in the population under 65 years old, the excess mortality rate was 29-44/100,000 in the group of 65-74 years old, and the age group of 179-2235/100,000 in the group of 75 years old.
02
Chinese influenza vaccine market competition pattern
The influenza vaccines that have been launched worldwide are divided into inactivated influenza vaccine, live attenuated influenza vaccine and recombinant influenza vaccine. According to the components contained in the vaccine, influenza vaccines include trivalent and tetravalent; according to the production process, they can be divided into chicken embryo, cell culture and recombinant influenza vaccines. Foreign markets have also launched high antigen content inactivated influenza vaccines, adjuvant vaccines, and intradermal vaccination for specific populations.
From the perspective of the development of the US influenza vaccine market, since the influenza vaccination cost in the United States is paid in full by medical insurance, and the United States has a high level of publicity and education on influenza, people generally have a sense of vaccination, and the influenza vaccination rate is at a high level. According to US CDCh data, in recent years, the overall influenza vaccination rate in the United States has shown a slow growth trend, with the vaccination rate in the 2020-21 influenza season reaching 52.1%. By age group, the vaccination rate among children and the elderly is even higher in high-risk groups, and the vaccination rate among children aged 6 months to 4 years old and the elderly over 65 years old has increased to about 70%.
, and the penetration rate of Chinese influenza vaccine is large and the United States is far behind that of the United States. The academic exchange meeting on seasonal influenza prevention and control strategies pointed out that the total coverage rate of China's influenza vaccine in 2019 was less than 2%, far behind the average level of developed countries; in addition, the influenza vaccination rate of Chinese medical personnel was only 15%, far lower than the 46.7% vaccination rate of medical personnel in other countries.
The influenza vaccines approved for marketing in my country include trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3), quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4) and trivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV3). IIV3 includes lysis vaccine and subunit vaccine, IIV4 is a lysis vaccine, and LAIV3 is an attenuated vaccine. Influenza vaccine is a non-immune program vaccine in my country, and residents are voluntarily vaccinated.
Source: "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention of Influenza Vaccine in China (2022-2023)"
Since 2018, the batch batch issuance of influenza vaccines has gradually increased. At the same time, the launch of the quadrivalent influenza vaccine has begun to gradually replace the trivalent influenza vaccine. The batch issuance of quadrivalent influenza vaccines in 2021 shows that Jindike and Hualan Bio have a large market share, accounting for more than 60%.
Hualan Bio's quadrivalent influenza vaccine was first launched in 2018. It ranked first in the country in terms of batch issuance between 2018 and 2020, and is the domestic leader in the field of influenza vaccines. At the same time, in January this year, Hualan Bio's quadrivalent influenza virus lysis vaccine (child type) was approved, supplementing the previous vacancies that the quadrivalent influenza vaccine could not be used for infants and young children, and has broad market prospects. Hualan Vaccine currently has 6 influenza vaccine stock solution production workshops, with an annual production capacity of 100 million doses of quadrivalent influenza vaccine, far exceeding its competitors. In recent years, an mRNA vaccine research and development platform has been gradually established, and preliminary research and development of mRNA influenza vaccines is actively carried out. Due to the early outbreak of the southern flu, Hualan's vaccine business revenue exceeded 1 billion in the first half of the year. With the large number of vaccinations in the autumn and winter, the performance this year is expected to explode.
In the future, with the further deepening of domestic influenza vaccination publicity and education, the penetration rate of influenza vaccination will further increase and the market space will continue to increase. At the same time, the flu vaccine is different from most other vaccines only needs to be vaccinated once. Due to the mutation of the virus every year, the flu vaccine needs to be vaccinated regularly every year, which means that the vaccination market size of the influenza vaccine is sustainable.
