Original title: Dental implants are expected to reduce prices and the total market value of Tongce Medical has shrunk by more than 70 billion yuan
Our reporter Zhang Min
Dental implants, which cost tens of thousands of yuan, are finally going to be collected!
On January 10, Premier Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council, and decided to normalize and institutionalize the centralized procurement of medicines and high-value medical consumables to further reduce the medical burden on patients. The meeting pointed out that the centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables should be expanded, and the centralized procurement of dental implants, which are of concern to the public, should be carried out at the national and provincial levels.
“The impact of the centralized procurement of dental implants is the cost. In fact, dental implants also include the operating costs of medical institutions, the cost of doctor services, and value-added services.” An unnamed person from a private dental chain institution told the “Securities Daily” reporter. The procurement will have an impact on private dental institutions, but the impact is limited.
According to Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Consulting, centralized procurement will have a greater impact on the price of dental implants, and will also have an impact on private dental medical institutions. “A big factor that has always existed in private oral medical institutions is that dental implants are not included in medical insurance, and the prices of public medical institutions and private medical institutions are not much different.”
An industry insider introduced to the reporter: “The prices of dental implants are different for different materials, different cities and even different institutions in the same city. In general, the price ranges from 3,000 yuan/piece to 20,000 yuan/piece.”
“It is the general trend that some medicines and consumables that are not covered by medical insurance are included in centralized procurement, and it is necessary to provide the common people with price transparency.” An unnamed policy analyst told the “Securities Daily” reporter that dental implants have already begun in some areas. Centralized acquisition, which has released the signal. “In addition to dental implants, the price transparency of medicines and consumables related to the medical and medical needs of ordinary people will become the direction of centralized procurement.”
There are traces of dental implant collection. The National Medical Insurance Bureau once pointed out that the qualified places should formulate reasonable payment standards according to their own economic development level and fund bearing capacity; give full play to the role of commercial insurance, and study and explore feasible paths for incorporating dental projects into the scope of commercial insurance payment.
In August 2021, Ningbo City interviewed 5 suppliers of imported dental implants. “According to the dental implant brand catalogue issued by Ningbo Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau on October 14, 2021, 15 implant brands have been identified. From November 1, 2021 to December 31, the trial operation period of the new policy. During the trial operation period Dental implants can be paid using the medical insurance account over the years. From January 1, 2022, the dental implants in the “Oral Implant Brand Catalog” can be used, and the medical insurance account can be paid for over the years.” A relevant person from the Tongce Medical Board Secretary Office introduced to the reporter, The price of dental implants in the catalog is basically 3,000 yuan/piece to 4,000 yuan/piece.
In November 2021, the State Food and Drug Administration issued the “Guidelines for the Registration and Review of Clinical Evaluation of the Same Variety of Dental Implant Systems (Draft for Comment)”; calling on experts, scholars, managers and practitioners in related fields to put forward suggestions and carry out “consistency”. Evaluation”.
However, the above-mentioned person from the dental chain organization who did not want to be named said that dental implants are not huge profits. In addition to dental implants, the operating costs of medical institutions and doctors are also important costs. “Central dental implants will lead to price reductions, but this is only part of the cost reduction.”
The research report released by the securities firm believes that the market space for dental implants in my country can reach 106 billion yuan, and the rapid growth of the dental implant track in the future is highly certain. However, the news that dental implants will be included in the centralized procurement in 2021 has been repeatedly reported, which has ushered in a reshuffle of this track.
The “top stream” of the A-share dental track is Tongce Medical, which is blessed by star funds and has a total market value of over 130 billion yuan at its peak. However, with the implementation of the dental implant centralized procurement policy, the total market value of Tongce Medical has shrunk significantly. Flush data shows that as of January 11, 2022, compared with the total market value of more than 130 billion yuan in June 2021, the total market value of Tongce Medical is now less than 60 billion yuan, shrinking by more than 70 billion yuan.
“The company is not a manufacturer of dental implants, and centralized procurement has reduced the company’s costs to a certain extent.” The above-mentioned person from the Tongce Medical Board Secretary Office told reporters that the centralized procurement of dental implants has little impact on the company’s current business. “Comparatively speaking, dental implants are still mainly imported brands.”
Since 2021, Ruier Group, China Dental Medical Group, and Doctor of Dental Medicine, which are on the same track as Tongce Medical, have started listing in Hong Kong. Will changes at the policy level affect the profit expectations, valuation and listing process of dental chain institutions?
Zhang Yi believes that with the advancement of centralized procurement, the price of dental implants will inevitably decline, and it will also affect the profitability of the current private oral medical institutions, which need to use value-added services to make up for the impact of price declines.
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