The who’s recommendation on HPV vaccine caused the share prices of three Chinese enterprises to plunge.
On the morning of April 14, the agent Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) ( Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) ) of MSD HPV vaccine in China once plunged by more than 18%. Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.Ltd(603392) ( Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.Ltd(603392) ), which has the first domestic bivalent HPV vaccine, fell by the limit to 256.04 yuan / share. The share price of Walvax Biotechnology Co.Ltd(300142) ( Walvax Biotechnology Co.Ltd(300142) ), which has just been approved for bivalent cervical cancer vaccine, fell by more than 7% in the morning.
Screenshot of who press release
The source of the market crash came from a message from the World Health Organization.
On April 11 local time, the website of the World Health Organization (hereinafter referred to as “who”) released information that from April 4 to April 7, the WHO advisory expert group on immunization strategy (SAGE) held a meeting and mentioned that a single dose of HPV vaccine can provide reliable protection, which is equivalent to the effect of two or three doses of vaccination scheme.
Regarding the impact of the reduction of HPV vaccination doses, at noon on April 14, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.Ltd(603392) announced that the company currently approved three doses of bivalent HPV vaccine in China (women aged 9-14 can take two doses). Under the current national drug administration policy, a series of clinical, data support and registration change procedures need to be performed for the change of vaccination grade, which takes a certain time, and has no significant impact on the company’s operating performance in the short term.
On the afternoon of April 14, the surging reporter contacted Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) , and the telephone of the Secretary office was always on the phone Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) the staff of the administrative office said by telephone that the company was actively following up the matter Walvax Biotechnology Co.Ltd(300142) responded to surging news reporters, saying: “this can not meet the announcement (requirements).”
After the opening on the afternoon of April 14, the decline of share prices of relevant enterprises narrowed. As of the closing, Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) fell 14.19% to 116 yuan / share, with a market value of 185.6 billion yuan Walvax Biotechnology Co.Ltd(300142) fell 3.08% to 49.11 yuan / stock market value of 78.65 billion yuan Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.Ltd(603392) fell 9.46% to 257.59 yuan / share, with a market value of 156.37 billion yuan.
It may be affected by the decline of three HPV vaccine companies. On April 14, several stocks in the A-share biological vaccine sector fell, such as Cansino Biologics Inc(688185) closed down 3.99% and Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co.Ltd(300601) closed down 1.2%.
what did who say about HPV vaccine
As can be seen from the minutes of the meeting published on the official website of the World Health Organization, the meeting discussed covid-19 vaccine, polio vaccine and other contents, some of which related to HPV vaccine.
It should be noted that sage pointed out in the meeting minutes that it reviewed the new evidence of the efficacy of a single dose of HPV and recommended that women aged 9-14 should be vaccinated once or twice. A single dose provides a considerable and high level of protection. From a public health point of view, it is more effective (less dose per cancer prevention), takes less resources and is easier to implement. Similarly, one or two doses are also suitable for women aged 15 to 20.
The current HPV vaccine policy is 2 doses for 9-14 year old girls, 3 and over 3 for girls aged 15, and 3 doses for people with immunodeficiency, including AIDS carriers, at any age (9 years and over).
Part of the meeting minutes about HPV vaccine
Considering the coverage of HPV vaccine, the goal of eliminating cervical cancer by 2030 and the impact of the current covid-19 epidemic on vaccination, sage said that it reviewed new evidence on the effectiveness of a single dose HPV vaccination plan and recommended the following immunization procedures: 1 dose or 2 doses for women aged 9-14 (the highest priority population); 15-20-year-old women were vaccinated once or twice; Women over 21 years old were vaccinated twice (with an interval of 6 months).
It is worth noting that sage emphasizes that for groups with low immunity, whether reducing dose can provide protection needs more evidence.
The minutes also mentioned that before revising the position paper on HPV vaccination, who will consult stakeholders on these important policy changes.
how will the change of hpv vaccine affect the industry
In fact, it is not the first time that a single dose of HPV vaccine can prevent cervical cancer.
In October 2021, Lancet Oncology published a study led by Partha Basu, an international cancer research institution. The results showed that within nearly 10 years after vaccination, the protective effect of single dose of tetravalent HPV vaccine on high-risk HPV16 and HPV18 persistent infection was equivalent to that of two or three doses of tetravalent vaccine, both of which could reach more than 90%. About 70% of cervical cancer is caused by viral infection of HPV16 and HPV18 subtypes.
Lancet – Oncology paper on the effect of different doses of HPV vaccine
For the recommendations of the WHO meeting on HPV vaccine, the analysis of CITIC medical team believes that this meeting only provides a recommendation and has not been implemented. From the current vaccination procedures, it is still dominated by 2-3 doses (legal procedures). In addition, who’s recommendations are mainly based on concerns about the slow introduction of HPV vaccine into immunization planning and low overall population coverage, especially in poorer countries. The core is to solve the huge gap between HPV vaccine supply and demand.
Five HPV vaccines have been approved in China. In addition to the two domestic vaccines Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.Ltd(603392) and Walvax Biotechnology Co.Ltd(300142) , the other three are imported. They are GlaxoSmithKline’s divalent HPV vaccine, MSD’s divalent HPV vaccine and MSD’s divalent HPV vaccine. MSD’s two vaccines are represented by Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co.Ltd(300122) agent.
CITIC medical team pointed out that even if the vaccination procedure is changed from three injections to two injections in the future, the improvement of industry penetration and accessibility is believed to effectively fill the market, which is expected to bring strong demand for HPV vaccination in relevant countries in the third world, and the export of domestic HPV vaccine is expected to accelerate. At the same time, for the nine valent HPV vaccine of MSD, it is still in a stage of insufficient production capacity. Whether it is a two shot or three shot vaccination procedure, it is still in short supply. There is no need to worry too much about the impact on the performance of HPV related companies.
