On August 28, the official official account of Shanghai Disease Control and Prevention Bureau issued a document saying that the city started the procurement of influenza vaccine in July, and the influenza vaccine in the 2024-2025 epidemic season has been successively supplied to various vaccination clinics in the city. At present, the city has sufficient reserves of influenza vaccines.
Just the day before, French vaccine giant Sanofi announced the suspension of flu vaccine administration for 2024-2025. According to industry insiders, Sanofi maintains an annual flu vaccine dose of around 10 million doses in China. This is significantly different from the size of the European and American markets.
Shanghai has completely suspended vaccination
Shanghai CDC specifically mentioned that Sanofi has recently notified the city and district disease prevention and control centers that the company has decided to proactively suspend the supply and use of the 2024-2025 influenza virus split vaccine for the influenza season and initiate a product return process. As of now, all vaccination units in this city have suspended the use of the influenza vaccine produced by the company.
The reporter from First Financial tried to register and make an appointment to receive the flu vaccine through the Shanghai Health Cloud mini program. Currently, there are two options: flu vaccine and flu universal vaccine, with no restrictions on manufacturers and a price of 135.5 yuan.
On August 27th, Sanofi announced that it has temporarily suspended the distribution and sale of its influenza vaccine in China due to concerns about the weakened efficacy of the vaccine. Vaccine efficacy is an indicator for predicting the immune protection effect of vaccines, mainly reflected by data obtained through appropriate laboratory testing or clinical use.
According to industry insiders, Sanofi maintains an annual flu vaccine dose of around 10 million doses in China. The price reference provided by Sanofi to First Financial reporters is that the quadrivalent vaccine is 128 yuan, and the trivalent vaccine is 88 yuan for adults/68 yuan for children (vaccination fees may vary in different regions). According to this calculation, Sanofi China's annual sales of influenza vaccines are approximately 1 billion yuan. The suspension of influenza vaccine administration in China may result in the company losing at least hundreds of millions of euros.
Sanofi did not disclose its annual sales of influenza vaccines in China to First Financial reporters, nor did it make further comments on the financial impact of the vaccine suspension on the company. However, Sanofi is currently one of the world's largest suppliers of flu vaccines, with one out of every 2.5 flu vaccines worldwide coming from Sanofi. In 2022 and 2023, the global sales of Sanofi influenza vaccines were 2.977 billion euros and 2.669 billion euros, respectively.
Sanofi stated that the latest potency issue will not affect other markets, as the Shenzhen factory producing this batch only provides vaccines for the Chinese market.
Sanofi's influenza vaccine is also the only imported vaccine approved by the Chinese Medical Products Administration, although its influenza vaccine supplied to the Chinese market is produced in Shenzhen. In 1996, Sanofi introduced its first influenza vaccine product, the trivalent influenza virus split vaccine Valin, to China. On February 21, 2023, the Sanofi quadrivalent influenza virus split vaccine, Vernier, was approved by the National Medical Products Administration for influenza prevention in infants and young children aged 6 to 35 months; In May of the same year, the vaccine was expanded to cover the entire population (aged 6 months and above). In July 2023, Sanofi quadrivalent influenza vaccine will be officially supplied to the Chinese market.
The market dominated by local manufacturers is trending towards price reductions
Industry insiders told First Financial reporters that although this French pharmaceutical company is one of the world's largest vaccine manufacturers, the Chinese flu vaccine market has always been dominated by local companies. In addition to the flu vaccine, Sanofi's most important vaccine product in China is the pentavalent vaccine, and its market size far exceeds that of the flu vaccine.
Sanofi has suspended flu vaccination this year, at a time when the price war for flu vaccines is intensifying. Due to the fact that the flu vaccine is not included in China's national immunization program, people need to pay out of their own pockets to receive the vaccine. China National Pharmaceutical Group lowered the price of quadrivalent influenza vaccine by 31% to RMB 88 per dose in May this year, and Hualan Biological Vaccine and Sinovac Biotech also lowered prices in June this year. These measures have intensified competition for Sanofi vaccine.
However, in big cities, there are still many people willing to accept vaccines from multinational brands, "a CDC official told First Financial News.
Shanghai CDC stated that the population is generally susceptible to influenza virus, and pregnant women, infants, elderly people, and chronic disease patients are more seriously affected by influenza infection than other populations. The flu season of 2024-2025 is approaching, and it is recommended that people aged 6 months and above receive the flu vaccine in a timely manner.
Professor Lu Hongzhou, the director of the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, told First Financial reporters, "As a preventive measure, Sanofi has decided to proactively propose the cessation of supply and sales. This responsible attitude should be encouraged
He also emphasized that "recall" is different from "withdrawal". Withdrawal is an active action taken by the company, and the recall is a mandatory requirement discovered by the drug regulatory bureau or government. This time, it belongs to the company's active "withdrawal". So far, all Sanofi flu vaccines, including Valin and Valga, have met national drug standards and legal requirements, "he said.
In fact, this is not the first time Sanofi has "withdrawn" its flu vaccine. In 2018, the company also carried out preventive "recall" of some batches of vaccines. It can be inferred that there are currently no clues regarding the quality issues related to the safety of Sanofi influenza vaccines, "Lu Hongzhou told First Financial reporters.
He suggested that parents of children who have a need for a second dose of Sanofi influenza vaccine can consider sequentially receiving influenza vaccines from other manufacturers according to the vaccination recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).