The year of the ox for the icebreakers in the cancer early screening market | Haibin interviewed

Early screening for cancer is not an easy task.

This market has been launched, but compared to regions such as Europe, the United States and Japan, potential patients in China have a serious lack of awareness of early cancer screening. Even if companies develop good products, the market is not within reach.

"There will certainly be more than one company in the cancer screening market that will stand out, but there will certainly be many companies left behind." At the end of the Year of the Ox, Zhu Yeqing, CEO of Nuohui Health, said in an interview with the first financial reporter that the cancer early screening market has attracted more and more startups, but the cold wind has blown from the capital market, and the time for the industry to sweep the sand is getting closer and closer.

Early sift through the warmth of the market

At the end of the cattle year, the attention of Helicobacter pylori increased.

In January 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report that chronic infections due to Helicobacter pylori were listed as a clear carcinogenic risk.

"There is an unprecedented increase in interest in Helicobacter pylori. When we launched this product, we caught up with a good time, and everyone went from paying attention to Helicobacter pylori to paying attention to the ghost tube, and the level of attention was particularly high. Zhu Yeqing said.

Testing for Helicobacter pylori was previously limited to hospitals. Nuohui Health's newly approved and listed ghost tube can be used for home use. After the stool has been sampled, the tester simply inserts the rod back into the reagent tube and shakes well for a few minutes to read the results.

For cancer screening, potential patients will inevitably avoid medical treatment. The awareness of cancer screening in the general population is significantly weaker than that of countries and regions such as Europe, the United States and Japan. The immediate consequence of this is that chinese cancer patients are often found in advanced stages. Some cancers, such as bowel cancer, breast cancer, etc., can even be completely eradicated if they are detected at an early stage, after surgery or chemotherapy. But the reality is that some patients with advanced disease suffer more and often have difficulty getting good treatment.

The common problem faced by the "icebreakers" in China's early cancer screening market is how to awaken the screening awareness of potential patients. This is never easy.

However, the market performance of Yuyu Pipe exceeded Zhu Yeqing's expectations.

"After all, Helicobacter pylori infection, to the development of stomach cancer is still quite a long time, everyone's sense of fear is not so strong." Zhu Yeqing told reporters that the mass market education of Helicobacter pylori has always been better than in areas such as bowel cancer screening. "Helicobacter pylori itself is contagious, and many people pay attention to Helicobacter pylori not only to themselves, but also to their families. In this regard, compared to our other products, it is easier for everyone to accept. ”

In the past few years, a large number of early screening companies for cancer have emerged in China, which are exploring new technologies and developing new products in the fields of bowel cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer. In the case of Nohui Health, Zhu Yeqing and his team have been working to inform the public that your "poof" deserves a good study — by detecting fragments of cancer cells in the stool, ordinary people can detect the risk earlier.

The two-year pandemic has changed public perception of the disease and self-health management has become more proactive.

"After the new crown epidemic, everyone attaches more and more importance to health, and the awareness of prevention of major diseases is also getting higher and higher. Young people are aware of early screening, and younger generations may be paying more attention to health than we think. Zhu Yeqing said.

Looking back at the past year, Zhu Yeqing also left some regrets.

"In terms of market education as a whole, offline effects are better." Affected by the epidemic, many offline activities have been held online. The popular science trip to China, as well as some of our cancer screening activities with Professor Gu Jin of Peking University Shougang Hospital, require face-to-face communication and demonstrations. Zhu Yeqing said: "So I hope that if the epidemic eases in 2022, we can sink the center of gravity and do a solid job in the channel." ”

The cold wind of the capital market

For medical device companies, in the past year of the bull, the coldest wind came from the capital market.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Healthcare Index has fallen by half over the past year, and most healthcare listed companies are not immune from the wave of declines.

"In the past year, the international and overall market environment has become more complex, and some policy uncertainties have led to some investors, especially many US dollar fund investors in Hong Kong stocks, who are excessively panicked about market risks." Zhu Yeqing believes: "This is also the normal performance of the capital market cyclically, and it has nothing to do with the company's performance. “

At present, Nuohui Health has hundreds of millions of dollars (billions of yuan) of funds on its books. "Unless we have some big mergers and acquisitions, if we follow the current pace of development, the cash is enough to support itself to achieve breakeven." Zhu Yeqing told reporters.

The field of cancer screening is pouring into more and more companies. This capital winter is a serious challenge for those enterprises that do not have enough cash in their hands.

R&D investment in the medical field tends to have long cycles and slow returns. According to the first financial reporter, Chang Weiqing, a product previously approved by Nuohui Health for early screening of bowel cancer, spent almost 100 million US dollars from the beginning of research and development to the registration of clinical and then to the registration certificate. "Whether most startups have the courage to go into high-risk clinical practices is actually a big challenge."

The winter of the capital market is not without benefits, it helps to screen out the oversized enterprises.

In the past five years, China's pharmaceutical and device fields have changed rapidly. In the booming period of the industry, the competition pattern has not yet been fixed, and policies and norms will lag behind technological progress, and it is inevitable that the mud and sand will fall.

"For those who want to innovate, now is the best time." Wang Liqun, chairman of Xingyi Ang, said in an interview with the first financial reporter before. During his previous tenure as CEO of Fosun Kate, he promoted the launch of China's first CAR-T drug.

Wang Liqun believes that some enterprises in the biopharmaceutical field are not willing to invest in a solid job in the process, "the process is not developed well, which may mean that today's cell is less of a factor, tomorrow more of a factor." He told reporters: "It is because the environment is too good, I am most worried about (some enterprises) fish and beads, the black sheep will be forced to die such a good policy environment." Enterprises still need to be self-disciplined, and never treat people as guinea pigs. ”

Zhu Yeqing and Wang Liqun had similar observations.

"I think every industry has (something like that) at the beginning. In the cancer early screening market, there are also many products that have not been approved, are being promoted in the market, or excessively publicizing the clinical performance of products. "Zhu Yeqing believes that compliance is the basis for large-scale commercialization, and there will be some noise when the industry starts, but I believe that time will test everything." For start-up companies, the situation is to find a clear path in the chaos. ”

A healthy business ecology follows the law of survival of the fittest; in this capital winter, not every company can wait until the next spring.

"The development of any industry is a big wave. There will certainly be more than one company in the cancer screening market that will stand out, but there will certainly be many companies left behind. Zhu Yeqing said: "When the non-invasive obstetric examination first appeared, there were actually nearly a hundred enterprises. Now this market is basically occupied by leading enterprises, because they first get a compliant registration certificate and then sell. I believe the cancer screening market will also repeat the process that these innovative companies have gone through. ”