As the temperature rises, skin diseases also enter a high incidence period. In recent years, skin problems have become a common health problem in the country, and Zhongkang CMH data shows that the sales scale of skin drugs has exceeded 40 billion yuan, of which dermatitis and eczema have shown a rapid growth trend in multiple channels.
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Skin problems have become a common health problem in the country.
The market size of related drugs exceeds 40 billion
According to the "2023 National Health Insight Report" Family Health Chapter of the Lilac Doctor Data Research Institute, the public continues to pay close attention to health in the post-epidemic era, among which "poor skin condition" has become the top 1 health distress of respondents.
Zhongkang CMH data also shows that the current population of skin disease patients in mainland China is large, and the demand continues to grow. In 2023, the total sales scale of the three channels of the mainland skin drug retail terminal market, grade hospital market and B2C market will reach 45.598 billion yuan.
Data source: Zhongkang CMH
Since 2021, the sales of dermatological drugs in grade hospitals and retail terminal channels have shown a rapid growth trend. In terms of subcategories, in 2023, the dermatitis, eczema, and psoriasis treatment drugs in the grade hospital market will both show a year-on-year growth of more than 40%. In 2023, the two sub-categories will account for more than 60% of the market share of the retail terminal skin drug category, and the sales scale of the skin drug retail terminal market will gradually approach 20 billion.
In terms of online channels, Zhongkang CMH data shows that in 2023, antifungal drugs for skin/hair and dermatitis eczema drugs will increase rapidly in both B2C and O2O, of which B2C channels account for the highest proportion of hair loss and gray hair products, and O2O channels have the fastest growth in burn drugs.
Data source: Zhongkang CMH; B2C includes Tmall + JD.com; O2O includes the three major platforms of Meituan + Ele.me + Jingdong Daojia, which are 70% of the sales volume of 70 cities and direct delivery stores + national express stores
In 2023, it will achieve rapid growth of 48.11% and 18.07% respectively in the grade hospital and retail terminal markets, with sales exceeding 10 billion yuan.
Since the beginning of this year, the demand for dermatitis eczema drugs has continued to rise, and the data of the dynamic sales monitoring platform of Zhongkang Lingsu retail pharmacy shows that in the first five months of 2024, the average daily store sales of dermatitis eczema skin drugs are higher than those in the past two years, and the average number of daily store orders is basically the same as that in the past two years, and the increase in sales is mainly driven by the increase in customer unit price.
Changes in average daily sales of dermatitis and eczema drugs in retail pharmacies
(January-May 2024, unit: yuan)
Data source: Zhongkang Lingsu retail pharmacy dynamic sales monitoring platform
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high prevalence and disease burden,
A large number of AD patients have unmet needs
Dermatitis can be further subdivided into atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, neurodermatitis, etc., with atopic dermatitis (AD) being the most common type.
According to the Expert Consensus on Clinical Pathways for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis in China (2023 Edition), atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with severe itching, a non-fatal skin disease with the highest disease burden in the world, and a chronic disease with a high prevalence and a heavy disease burden in mainland China. Epidemiological studies show that the number of AD patients in the world is at least 230 million, and the age-standardized prevalence of AD in China is 2.5%, and according to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD2019), the number of AD patients in China increased by 25.65% from 1990 to 2019.
Topical glucocorticoids are still the first-line drugs for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in mainland China, and glucocorticoid preparations of different dosage forms and strengths are selected according to the patient's age, nature and location of skin lesions to quickly and effectively control inflammation and reduce symptoms.
In terms of generic names, mometasone has continued to occupy the TOP1 position in the sales scale of dermatitis eczema drugs in retail terminals, and has maintained rapid growth year after year, with sales exceeding 1.1 billion yuan in 2023, and the sales scale of compound dexamethasone acetate and desonide has increased steadily. In terms of non-hormonal drugs, tacrolimus has surpassed hydrocortisone in sales in the past two years and has become the best-selling TOP5 "goalkeeper" of dermatitis and eczema in the retail terminal market. In the market of grade hospitals, dupilumab has become the No. 1 in sales (multi-indication), and tacrolimus, fluticasone, and desonide are also best-selling varieties in hospitals.
Overall, topical glucocorticoids still dominate the market, while non-hormonal drugs show good market potential, and although the average unit price of these drugs is much higher than that of hormone products, they are favored by consumers because of their better safety than hormone products. In addition, tacrolimus ointment, pimecrolimus cream, and cleborol ointment have been included in the medical insurance list in recent years, which may further promote the rise of the non-hormonal market.
It is worth mentioning that dupilumab, as the first targeted biologics approved for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, has achieved strong returns in the past few years, and has performed well in both the hospital and other markets. The considerable market size has also attracted many pharmaceutical companies to try to enter the atopic dermatitis drug track, including IL-4R monoclonal antibodies, JAK inhibitors, IL-13 inhibitors, OX40 inhibitors and other innovative therapeutic drugs for different targets and pathways. With the advent of more breakthrough innovative drugs, it will bring more effective and relatively safe options for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
At present, patients with atopic dermatitis have certain limitations in the selection of treatment regimens, and the patients themselves do not pay attention to the early stage of the disease, and the compliance in the treatment process is not prominent, resulting in a low overall control rate.
Atopic dermatitis is chronic, inflammatory, recurrent and other characteristics, and the onset is related to the patient's physique, genetics and environmental factors, so in addition to drug treatment, it is also necessary to reasonably clean the skin, adjust the environment, avoid contact with allergens, pay attention to dietary structure and other life management. For retail terminals, in addition to paying attention to the layout of relevant varieties, it can also provide corresponding chronic disease management services for patients with atopic dermatitis, improve medication compliance and enhance customer stickiness.
According to the Expert Consensus on Clinical Pathways for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis in China (2023 Edition), patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis can transition to the stage of maintenance and remission treatment based on external drugs while the skin lesions are fully controlled, and the basic treatment and management measures of the patients, including health education, reasonable bathing, use of moisturizing emollients, and avoiding predisposing and aggravating factors, should run through the whole process of diagnosis and treatment of moderate to severe AD.
Zhongkang CMH data shows that the population base of skin disease patients is large and the demand continues to grow, and the unit price and purchase frequency of the category are low, but at the same time, from the perspective of patients' drug purchase habits, skin medication and home medical care and sanitizing products have a significant relationship, and the latter is a high gross profit product of pharmacies, and pharmacies can increase the unit price by associating with sanitizing products to form skin care sets.
On the other hand, patients with atopic dermatitis can be accompanied by other allergic diseases, such as recurrent conjunctivitis, allergic asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, etc., and related categories also deserve the attention of pharmacies. According to the data of Zhongkang Lingxi Consumer Insight System, in 2023, buyers of a certain brand of mometasone prefer to associate the purchase of other dermatitis eczema drugs, cold medicines, and skin infection (topical) drugs, among which loratadine has the highest correlation degree. Buyers of a certain brand of tacrolimus prefer to buy topical glucocorticoids at the same time, and a small number of drug buyers will buy vitamins and cold medicines at the same time.
Data source: Zhongkanglinxi Consumer Insight System
1. Guidelines for primary diagnosis and treatment of atopic dermatitis (2022)[J].Chinese Journal of General Practice,2022,21(7):609-619
2. Expert consensus on the clinical pathway for the diagnosis and treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in China (2023 edition)[J].Chinese Journal of Dermatology,2023,56(11):1000-1006