Sino-Singapore Jingwei, September 30 (Wang Yuling) Recently, some netizens on social media posted that Pfizer’s glucocorticoid drug-methylprednisolone (trade name: Metso) Le) has been out of stock on a large scale. Sino-Singapore Jingwei called several pharmacies in Beijing as a consumer, and the staff responded that Sino-Singapore Jingwei said that the drug had indeed been out of stock for a month or two. Staff said they were “uncertain” about when the drug would be back in supply.
According to the data provided by Zhongkang CMH to Sino-Singapore Jingwei, Metso’s annual sales have exceeded 100 million in both hospital terminals and retail markets.
At the same time, there are many rumors of discontinuation on social media. Some netizens said that the drug may be discontinued. In order to prevent it from being unavailable, they went to the pharmacy in advance to “sweep the goods” and bought 50 boxes. Truth geometry?
The pharmacy has been out of stock, and some patients are stocking up 20 boxes for fear of “unable to connect”
According to public information, methylprednisolone tablet is a synthetic medium-acting glucocorticoid tablet with anti-inflammatory effect, suitable for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, collagen diseases, skin diseases, eye diseases Diseases, respiratory diseases, edema state and immunosuppressive therapy, shock, endocrine disorders and other diseases.
Guo Li, chief physician of the General Internal Medicine Department of Hegang People’s Hospital, wrote an analysis that methylprednisolone is a medium-acting glucocorticoid with a half-life of 1.5 to 5.2 hours. After oral administration, it can maintain the effect of glucocorticoid for about 12 hours. Although the intensity and duration of action of methylprednisolone are not comparable to that of another glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, the related side effects of dexamethasone are also significantly greater than those of methylprednisolone.
But recently, Metso has been out of stock in many places. Xiaohongshu Bo Zhang Li (pseudonym) is a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). She told a reporter from Sino-Singapore Jingwei that she felt the shortage of goods around September 15, and was in the hospital in August. The full-term dose was prescribed, but when I went to the hospital for a review on the 15th, the doctor said that the drug could no longer be prescribed.
It’s not just Zhang Li who has the same experience. On social platforms, many patients said that methylprednisolone tablets are currently out of stock in the hospital and in pharmacies. “I searched for pharmacies in different cities in Meituan, and I made a lot of phone calls before I bought it. Originally, I bought it once a quarter, but this time I was very tired.” A netizen shared.
Sino-Singapore Jingwei reporters called Beijing Qingzhitang Pharmacy Branch, Golden Elephant Pharmacy and other pharmacies as consumers. Goods status. “It has been out of stock for a while, and the specific recovery time is uncertain.” The staff of the Golden Elephant Pharmacy said.
Zhang Li told Sino-Singapore Jingwei that SLE is divided into active disease stage and stable stage, and there will be related clinical manifestations in the active disease stage. Hormone shock therapy is required, that is, combined therapy with extensive use of methylprednisolone and other immunosuppressive agents. Patients with active disease require larger doses. “For methylprednisolone, I take 6 tablets a day during the active disease period, and some patients take more than a dozen tablets, and the active disease period is unstable, it may take ten days, it may take several months.” Zhang Li said.
As a result, when she found out that methylprednisolone tablets were out of stock in the hospital, she fell into a panic, and her family helped her buy more than 20 boxes of medicines from pharmacy retail channels. “Because I didn’t take the original brand medicine before, my doctor suggested me to switch back to Metsolot based on my condition, so I was very sensitive to the shortage of Metsolot.” Zhang Li said.
It was even more spread on social platforms. Some netizens posted that the drug was no longer available in many places, and they were worried that production would be discontinued, so they “sweeped the goods” and bought 50 boxes in advance.
According to the sales data provided by the health industry data platform Zhongkang CMH to Sino-Singapore Jingwei, from the perspective of retail terminals, Metso’s sales will exceed 100 million in 2020, and the growth rate will remain at 5% Around, the sales in the first half of 2022 will be 53 million yuan; from the perspective of hospital terminals, Metso’s semi-annual sales from 2020 to 2022 will be 262 million yuan, 282 million yuan and 128 million yuan respectively.
Why is this drug out of stock? When will supply be restored?
200% increase in retail price
On the 30th, Hanhui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Hisun Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), which is responsible for the sales of methylprednisolone tablets in China, responded to Sino-Singapore Jingwei that methylprednisolone tablets were produced by Pfizer’s overseas factories carry out production, and the company is responsible for sales in China. However, why there is insufficient supply in the market and when to fully restore supply, it is necessary to further communicate with Pfizer in the United States to confirm.
From the current situation, Sino-Singapore Jingwei has noticed that in third-party retail channels such as e-commerce platforms, Dingdang Kuaiyao shows that it is currently out of stock, and some platforms show that the sales price of Metso has already appeared. Double growth.
On some e-commerce platforms, Metso’s original selling price of 30 yuan a box is currently generally priced between 90 yuan and 95 yuan, a premium of over 200%. When Zhongxin Jingwei asked a pharmacy customer service as a consumer why the price was raised, the customer service responded that there was a shortage of medicines, so there was a price increase.
Photo source social platform
According to Article 13 of the “Price Law”, operators selling, purchasing goods and providing services shall clearly mark the price in accordance with the regulations of the government’s price authority.Indicate the product name, origin, specification, grade, pricing unit, price or service item, charging standard, etc. of the commodity. Operators are not allowed to sell commodities at an additional price in addition to the listed price, and are not allowed to charge any unmarked fees.
Article 14 stipulates that operators shall not collude with each other, manipulate market prices, and damage the legitimate rights and interests of other operators or consumers; fabricate and spread information on price increases, drive up prices, and promote commodities Excessive price increases; use false or misleading price means to lure consumers or other business operators into trading with them and other unfair price behaviors.
Beijing Yunjia Law Firm lawyer Zhao Zhan said in an analysis of Sino-Singapore Jingwei that according to the “Price Law”, operators are not allowed to fabricate or spread price increase information, drive up prices, and push commodity prices too high If the price rises, behaviors like this kind of price gouging will be punished by the market supervision department.
Jin Chunlin, director of the Shanghai Health and Health Development Research Center, analyzed Sino-Singapore Jingwei that when the supply of medicines is cut off, first of all, it is necessary to distinguish whether the medicines are domestically produced or imported. Domestic drug supply cuts may include reasons such as prices that cannot cover costs and raw material price increases. For pharmaceutical companies, raw material reserves and early warnings should be carried out. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China has also established a stockpile of drugs in normal shortage at the central and local levels. For imported drugs, it is necessary to analyze whether it is the reason for shipment or the reason for process approval, and analyze the symptoms as much as possible.
(The opinions in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investment is risky, and you need to be cautious when entering the market.)
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Editor in charge: Luo Kun