The upstream industrial chain of life sciences continues to prosper, and “water sellers” blossom everywhere. Life science services include four categories: scientific research reagents, experimental consumables, instruments and equipment and comprehensive services: (1) scientific research reagents can be divided into chemical reagents and biological reagents, which have the characteristics of complex categories and wide downstream applications. Most scientific research reagents will be re purchased due to the repeatability of experiments; (2) Experimental consumables include general consumables, special consumables, experimental animals, etc. as daily consumables of the laboratory, they are used frequently; (3) Instruments and equipment include general instruments, analytical instruments, special equipment, etc., which belong to the basic investment of the laboratory, and the re purchase demand is relatively low; (4) Comprehensive services are value-added services in the industrial chain, including testing services (CRO), gene sequencing services, laboratory decoration design, software management, etc.
There are many kinds of scientific research reagents, which are the core tool library of life science research. According to the product function, scientific research reagents are mainly divided into chemical reagents and biological reagents. (1) Chemical reagent: it includes not only general chemical reagents represented by acid, alkali, salt and organic matter, but also high-end chemical reagents represented by molecular blocks and standards. Foreign brands are represented by Thermo Fisher, sigma Aldrich and TCI, while domestic brands are represented by Shanghai Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co.Ltd(688179) , Sinopharm chemical reagent and adamas (Titan high-end reagent). (2) Biological reagent: it can be divided into protein reagent (recombinant protein, antibody, etc.), molecular reagent (nucleic acid, molecular enzyme, etc.), cell reagent (culture medium, cytokine, etc.). Foreign brands are represented by Thermo Fisher, Andy biology, New England, situofan, etc., and domestic brands are represented by Acrobiosystems Co.Ltd(301080) , Sino Biological Inc(301047) , Nanjing Vazyme Biotech Co.Ltd(688105) , oppmai, etc.
The experimental consumables have the characteristics of high-frequency re purchase, and the technical threshold of special consumables is high. According to the product function, the experimental consumables can be divided into general consumables, special consumables, experimental animals, etc. (1) General consumables: refer to plastic consumables (centrifuge tube, suction head, etc.), glassware (beaker, conical flask, etc.) and protective consumables (gloves, masks, etc.) used daily in the laboratory. Foreign brands are represented by Thermo Fisher, Corning and VWR, and domestic brands are represented by Guangzhou Jet Bio-Filtration Co.Ltd(688026) , Nexium, Shuohua life and Shanghai Titan Scientific Co.Ltd(688133) ; (2) Special consumables: refer to high-end consumables specially used for specific industrial production, such as cell factories specially used for cell culture, disposable reaction bags, chromatographic fillers, filter membranes, magnetic beads, etc. specially used for separation and purification. Foreign brands are represented by situofan, Thermo Fisher, saidoris, German Merck, and domestic brands are Lechun biology, donin biology Suzhou Nanomicro Technology Co.Ltd(688690) , Sunresin New Materials Co.Ltd Xi’An(300487) , saifen technology, kebaite, etc. (3) Experimental animals: animal models used for experiments, such as mice, rats and cynomolgus monkeys, include not only common strains of animals, but also immune deficient or humanized animals obtained by gene editing. Foreign brands are represented by Charles River and Taconic Biosciences, and domestic brands are represented by jiyaokang, Nanmo biology and baisaitu.
Instruments and equipment belong to the investment of fixed assets and are the infrastructure of life science research. According to the product functions, the instruments and equipment are mainly divided into the following types: (1) general instruments: refer to the general instruments such as balance, pure water machine, water bath pot, drying oven and centrifuge that are widely used in the laboratory. The foreign brands are represented by sedolis, Thermo Fisher, Beckman and VWR, and the domestic brands are represented by Shanghai Titan Scientific Co.Ltd(688133) , Qingdao Haier Biomedical Co.Ltd(688139) . (2) Analytical instruments: refer to spectrophotometer, liquid / gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, PCR, sequencer and other instruments and equipment used for analysis and inspection. Foreign brands are represented by Agilent, Thermo Fisher, Shimadzu and BD, and domestic brands are represented by Beijing Labtech Instruments Co.Ltd(688056) , Guangzhou Hexin Instrument Co.Ltd(688622) , Huada Zhizao and Focused Photonics (Hangzhou) Inc(300203) . (3) Special equipment: refers to special equipment such as cell workstation, bioreactor and fermentation tank used for specific reaction. Foreign brands are represented by meitianni, situofan, saidoris and semefisher, and domestic brands are represented by Tofflon Science And Technology Group Co.Ltd(300171) , Truking Technology Limited(300358) , Sensong international and Jinyi Shengshi. (4) Experimental safety equipment: refers to low-temperature storage, ultra clean table, biosafety cabinet, sterile isolator and other experimental safety equipment used for biosafety protection. Foreign brands are represented by Sanyo and Thermo Fisher, and domestic brands are represented by Qingdao Haier Biomedical Co.Ltd(688139) , Zhejiangtailin Bioengineering Co.Ltd(300813) .
Comprehensive service is a comprehensive solution based on customer needs, which belongs to value-added service. Comprehensive services are value-added services in the life science service chain, including detection services (CRO), gene sequencing services, laboratory decoration design, software management, etc. The business scope of most product companies involves comprehensive services. For example, Acrobiosystems Co.Ltd(301080) and Sino Biological Inc(301047) provide customers with testing services based on the advantages of biological reagents (similar to cro services); Shanghai Titan Scientific Co.Ltd(688133) provide comprehensive laboratory solutions from design to transformation; Beijing Labtech Instruments Co.Ltd(688056) provide clean and environment-friendly laboratory solutions. In addition, in the field of high-throughput sequencing, there are platform companies specialized in providing scientific research services represented by Novogene Co.Ltd(688315) .
Investment suggestion: the upstream of the life science industry chain is all inclusive. With the acceleration of localization process, it is expected that more and more companies will enter the public’s vision through the capital market. The golden age of the upstream of China’s life science industry chain has come. We suggest paying special attention to the whole sector.
Risk tip: import substitution is less than expected, and the risk of intensified industry competition.
