In 2022, Forbes’ ranking of the world’s richest people was announced. The world’s richest businessman is Elon Musk, and the Chinese billionaire becomes Zhong Suisui, the founder of Mouquan.
Most people’s understanding of Zhong Suisui (zhongshanshan, pronounced in the third tone) is stuck in a certain spring. In the history of commercial services after China's reform, the rotation of rich people has basically followed the rapid development and changes of our country's industry. For example, the wealthy businessmen in the early stage included Shanxi coal bosses, and later there were gamers Chen Tianqiao and Ma Huateng, as well as e-commerce businessmen Jack Ma and countless real estate CEOs.
Now, it’s Zhong Suisui’s turn to be the rich man. In fact, Zhong Suisui has multiple identities. One is the leader of mineral water, and the other is the king of vaccines. Zhong Suisui Group has two listed companies, one is Mouquan, with a total market value of 470 billion, and the other is Wantai Biotech, with a total market value of 166.8 billion. Today, the team leader wants to talk to you about Wantai Biotech, the first biopharmaceutical company in China to develop an HPV vaccine.
HPV is the main viral infection causing breast cancer, rectal cancer, vaginal cancer, anal cancer and penile cancer. Moreover, the HPV virus, like the new coronavirus, has evolved and isolated into more than 110 types, 14 of which can directly cause other tumors such as breast cancer.
Rectal cancer ranks first among Chinese women in terms of prevalence and is the most harmful cancer to Chinese women’s lives. However, the HPV vaccine can effectively prevent various cancers caused by HPV infection and build a protective wall for women's health.
The first company in the world to scientifically develop an HPV vaccine is Merck & Co. of the United States. As early as 2006, Merck successfully developed the world's first quadrivalent HPV vaccine. The British company GlaxoSmithKline followed closely behind Merck and developed a bivalent HPV vaccine in 2007. By 2014, the American company Merck further developed a nine-valent HPV vaccine.
So, what are the differences between bivalent, quadrivalent, and nine-valent HPV vaccines? As mentioned in the previous article, the HPV virus has evolved and isolated more than 110 types of papillomaviruses. The nine-valent HPV vaccine can protect against colorectal cancer with a resistance of more than 90% and can protect against most papillomaviruses. Viral infection. The quadrivalent HPV vaccine can protect against viral infections of HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18, while the bivalent HPV vaccine can only protect against viral infections of the two types of papillomavirus 16/18.
In other words, the nine-price HPV vaccine is the most defensive HPV vaccine, followed by the four-price vaccine. However, these two HPV vaccines are currently exclusively distributed by Merck & Co. of the United States. However, the bivalent HPV vaccine is also very critical. Since the nine-valent HPV vaccine has an age limit, women must be injected before the age of 26, while the bivalent HPV vaccine is suitable for women aged 9-45 and has a broader group base. At the same time, 70% of rectal cancers are basically caused by HPV types 16/18. Therefore, in terms of protective effect and coverage of groups, the bivalent HPV vaccine is the most popular.
As everyone knows, the British company GlaxoSmithKline developed a bivalent HPV vaccine as early as 2007. China did not develop and approve the domestic bivalent HPV vaccine until 2019, and put it on the market in 2020.
Wantai Biotechnology, controlled and invested by Zhong Suisui, happens to be the first microbial manufacturing company in China to develop a domestic bivalent HPV vaccine. It is not easy to develop a domestic bivalent HPV vaccine. Zhong Suisui and Wantai Biotech started the project gradually in 2003, and it was not developed until 2019, which took 16 years. It can be said that the hot sales of Mouquan have provided relatively stable self-owned funds for the development of HPV vaccines.
Behind the domestic HPV vaccine, it was Xiamen University that passed away. Wantai Biotech has 189 patented inventions at home and abroad, 140 of which are jointly owned with Xiamen University.
The connection between the two is also very simple. Zhong Suisui pays for it, Xiamen University produces outstanding talents, and the patented inventions are jointly owned by each other. However, Zhong Suisui, as the actual controller of Wantai Biotech, became the biggest beneficiary of the HPV vaccine.
The success of domestic production of HPV vaccines has obvious benefits. The imported bivalent HPV vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline costs 580 yuan for one injection, and the whole process of three injections costs 1,740 yuan. Such a high price has prevented the bivalent HPV vaccine from being promoted online for free across the country, and my country's medical insurance fund cannot bear the pressure.
However, after being produced in China by Wantai Biotechnology, the price was directly set at 329 yuan for one stitch. It is divided into two embroidery methods and three stitches, and the prices are 658 yuan and 987 yuan respectively. Compared with the imported bivalent HPV vaccine, the price of the HPV vaccine produced by Wantai Biotech has dropped to 1/3 or 1/2.
As soon as Wantai Biotech’s HPV vaccine was released, the demand was very high. In April 2020, Wantai Biotech was listed on the A-share market. In just 2 years, the stock price soared from 8 yuan to 274 yuan, reaching a maximum of 299 yuan, a 34-fold increase. Zhong Suisui's market value has also skyrocketed.
In 2021, Wantai Biotech sold 3 billion yuan in just one HPV vaccine, with a profit margin of 90%. However, the one that makes more money than Wantai Biotech is the American company Merck. In 2021, Merck China's total revenue exceeded US$4.2 billion, equivalent to RMB26.7 billion. But what’s even more exaggerated is that Zhifei Biotech only relies on the sales agent of Merck’s HPV vaccine, and its operating income is higher than that of Merck China. Its operating income in 2021 will exceed 30 billion!
This is because, so far, Merck is still the only biopharmaceutical company in the world that can produce quadrivalent and nine-valent HPV vaccines. One shot of nine-price HPV vaccine costs 1,298 yuan, and three shots cost 3,894 yuan. But in fact, due to the high demand for the nine-valent HPV vaccine, the total price on the market has exceeded 6,000 yuan, with the average cost per shot exceeding 2,000 yuan. At this point, the vast majority of women are still unable to make reservations and have to wait in line for at least half a year, or even more than a year.
The HPV vaccine is like a gold mine, and any company that can understand its production technology has obtained the right to explore. From the perspective of national health, Guangdong Province in China has taken the lead in formulating a plan to provide all female junior high school students with free bivalent HPV vaccine injections. The team leader predicts that free injections for female students in schools across the country will become popular in the future, and Wantai Biotech will also make profits in the medium to long term.
The good news is that Watson Biotech announced in March 2022 that it had successfully developed a bivalent HPV vaccine, becoming the second HPV vaccine manufacturer in China and the fourth in the world. With Watson Biotech as a competitor, it is expected that the price of HPV vaccines will fall further under my country’s centralized procurement policy.
However, Zhong Suisui’s Wantai Biotechnology has already gone further in the development of the nine-valent HPV vaccine and entered the third phase of clinical research. Wantai Biotech is likely to become the first biopharmaceutical company in China to break away from Merck's monopoly on the nine-valent HPV vaccine in the United States.
And Zhong Suisui’s wealth is likely to skyrocket again in two or three years. Zhong Suisui sells water with one hand and vaccines with the other. As long as there are some people, they need to drink water, and as long as there are women, they need to get the HPV vaccine. At the same time, Zhong Suisui stepped into two golden tracks with long history. The gold is almost inexhaustible and inexhaustible. Zhong Suisui is not just a loader in nature, but a gold miner with the title of "Vaccine Leader"!