GSK Partners with Alibaba to Capture China's Cervical Cancer Vaccine Market Worth Over RMB 2 Billion

Cervical Cancer VaccineThe market launch has fully ignited the competition in the HPV vaccine (human papillomavirus vaccine, commonly known as the cervical cancer vaccine) market. To further expand its market influence, GSK has partnered with AliHealth to open a second front for cervical cancer vaccines on Taobao, aiming to rapidly secure future market share.

GSK Launches Taobao Channel

Taobao Officially Becomes GSK’s Market “Channel”

On the 15th, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AliHealth jointly announced in Beijing the official launch of their collaborative “Ruizhi – Adult Vaccination Service Program,” meaning that users can now schedule HPV vaccine appointments simply by opening the Taobao app on their mobile phones.

“This project does not involve any vaccine sales,” revealed Huang Yizheng, General Manager of GSK China Vaccines, in response to a question from Saibailan at the signing ceremony. As the current collaboration between the two parties is limited to areas such as information service consulting and does not yet include sales, there is no detailed timeline or phased objectives for the partnership.

It is reported that the Ruizhi Project aims to promote online consultation and education for related diseases, as well as appointment services for vaccinations at offline community health centers. The project does not involve vaccine sales; even in future expansions, it will focus on broadening the range of diseases covered by consultation and vaccination appointment services.

Notably, despite being a globally renowned vaccine manufacturer with an extensive portfolio of vaccine products, GSK’s internet collaboration with AliHealth is currently limited to providing information on cervical cancer vaccination.

On July 31, 2017, GSK announced the official launch of Cervarix, the first cervical cancer vaccine approved by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) in China. Currently, vaccination services are available in 17 provinces and municipalities across the country, making GSK the first beneficiary of the deregulation of cervical cancer vaccines in mainland China.

In this regard, GSK does not shy away from expressing its particular attention and expectations for the HPV vaccine.

“Cervarix, the cervical cancer vaccine, serves as a pilot initiative; if it gains popularity among users, we hope to scale up and introduce more vaccine products in the future,” said Huang Yizheng. GSK did not rule out the possibility of expanding its collaboration with AliHealth in the areas of pediatric vaccines and other adult vaccines in the future.

The Battle for Cervical Cancer Vaccines

Behind the HPV Vaccine, the Market Battle Between GSK and MSD in China Has Fully Erupted.

Public information indicates that Merck & Co.’s quadrivalent cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, is expected to launch in China by the end of the year—in other words, GSK will have less than five months of market exclusivity before Merck’s quadrivalent vaccine becomes available.

Public data indicate that GSK’s bivalent vaccine is indicated for individuals aged 9–25 years. Based on a target population of 125 million, an initial vaccination rate of 1%, and a projected price of RMB 1,740 for the three-dose series (RMB 580 per dose, totaling RMB 1,740 for the full course), the market size is estimated to exceed RMB 2 billion. Although final out-of-pocket costs for recipients may vary across provinces due to differences in local policies, cold-chain management fees, and vaccination service fees, such variations are not expected to be significant.

Merck’s quadrivalent HPV vaccine is indicated for women aged 20–45 years. Based on a target population of 269 million, a penetration rate of 1%, and a price of RMB 2,400 for the three-dose series (Zhifei Biological Products is the exclusive distributor of Merck’s quadrivalent HPV vaccine in mainland China, with its winning bid price in Yunnan Province being RMB 798 per dose), the market size is projected to reach RMB 6.4 billion.

Amid tight timelines and heavy workloads, how to make rapid progress? Alibaba’s retail platform, with 500 million active users, has become GSK’s ideal partner.

“It is difficult for us to achieve this on our own; we need a capable partner,” said Wei Liansheng, Chairman of GSK (China) Investment Co., Ltd., in an interview with the media yesterday.

Jiang Cheng, General Manager of the Health Platform Business Unit at AliHealth, stated in response to media inquiries yesterday, “Whether this platform will be opened to other partners remains under consideration; we do not rule out such a possibility.”

This also means that if Merck & Co. follows suit by entering the Taobao channel, the competition for cervical cancer vaccines will become even more intense.

(Source: Saibailan / Zheng Yao)

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