In the first four months, the situation of import and export of hearing aids in China improved

Business News Agency August 11th The Chinese OTC market will have enormous potential for growth. The future will be a battlefield for pharmaceutical companies to compete. Combine the results of the OMMS (China OTC Market and Media Research) research on consumers of the new generation of market monitoring agencies. It can be found that the OTC market driven by consumer demand is booming.

"Less 50 years old"

According to the definition of the World Health Organization: middle-aged people before the age of 65, young people aged between 65 and 74, and formal old people between 75 and 90 years old. According to the principle of biology, the life span of a mammal is 5 to 7 times of its growth period. The growth period of humans is calculated using the time (20-25 years) that the last tooth grows. Therefore, the shortest lifespan of humans is 100%. As long as 175 years old, the normal life expectancy of a recognized person should be 120 years old. This should be 70, 80, and 90 years old is very healthy, many people are unhealthy in their 40s, coronary heart disease in their 50s, more than 60 years old may have ended their lives, sick or died in advance 50 years. Why is this so? The reason is the improvement of material civilization and the decline of spiritual civilization.

With the improvement of the material living standards, the hidden dangers brought about by unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, drinking, long working hours, staying up late, working overtime, and lack of exercise are also highlighted. The OMMS (China OTC Market and Media Research) data from the New Generation Market Monitoring Agency showed that among the 3037 smokers, smokers aged 58 years accounted for 58.1%, and smokers aged 17% for 5-10 years. In terms of physical activity, 44.8% of people do not exercise. Why do they not exercise? According to the survey, 45.9% of people have troubles with overtime work and rest late at night, causing no time for exercise at all. And these unhealthy lifestyles will bring a lot of hidden dangers.

"Perplexed sprouting demand"

The data shows that various kinds of physical discomforts are plaguing people. Many kinds of physical discomforts are plaguing people from all walks of life. The unjust lifestyle has not been able to return to a rhythmically regular state with rapid economic development. Staying up late to work overtime, socializing and other lifestyles that are physically harmful are still very common. Paying attention to healthy life has become a "long-lasting" demand, and a variety of health-related products have exploded.

It can be said that self-medication is the process of recognizing the importance of spirituality while people value physical life. In 2008, the market potential of China's OTC has reached nearly RMB 130 billion, which has increased by nearly 70 times in less than 20 years. With the improvement of people’s living standards and the increasing emphasis on life and health, the level of self-medication has also grown substantially. As more and more consumers begin self-medication, the OTC market in China will expand again in the future. (Note: Self-medication refers to the proper use of OTC drugs without the guidance of a doctor or other medical practitioner to relieve mild, short-term symptoms and discomfort, or to treat minor illnesses.)

"OTC consumers get consumers"

In 2010, with the deterioration of the marketing environment for prescription drugs, some enterprises engaged in the production of prescription drugs gradually expanded to OTC; Novartis, Roche, and other multinational companies led by original research drugs began to expand generic and non-prescription drug businesses in China. For pharmaceutical companies mainly based on prescription drugs, it is inherently advantageous to enter OTC. The most obvious advantage is that the safety and efficacy of prescription drugs have been well proven through a large amount of clinical data after many years of clinical promotion in hospitals, thereby reducing the market for over-the-counter drugs. The operational risk also provides a solid foundation for entering the OTC market.

However, since the establishment of OTC drug sales channels is different from the original sales of prescription drugs, there is no doubt that higher production and sales of OTC drug manufacturers are required. However, many different OTC pharmaceutical marketing strategies, sales channels, and sales methods pose great challenges to the company's future competition. Why then is the OTC market an important market in the future? Can be analyzed from the following aspects:

First, the country's policy orientation toward basic medical institutions has prompted the rapid release of the third terminal market potential; under the interaction, the OTC market will expand again.

Second, there is strong demand for OTC specialist products and the potential for market capacity is considerable. The Cenozoic Market Monitoring Agency found that with the rise of office automation, the use of computers and air conditioners, and the decline in human immunity, has caused eye disease, skin diseases, allergies, and rhinitis to become an important part of self-medication in recent years. And there is a rising trend year by year. At present, ophthalmic drugs rank third in the symptoms of self-medication. The products sold mainly focus on eyesight, relieve fatigue, cleansing care, stop astringent and relieve itching. However, specialty OTC varieties are still relatively scarce, and individual specialists do not have a dominant brand. Nutritional supplements such as vitamins in OTC are also important components of self-medication and are used in developed countries. The nutritional supplement market in China has yet to be cultivated, but its potential is considerable.

Xiao Mingchao, deputy general manager of the Cenozoic Market Monitoring Agency, believes that the OTC market will continue to feature “advanced advertising and consumption in the future”. It is worth noting that many consumers have a lot of marginal drug demand in the case of uncomfortable symptoms. For example, the information conveyed by an advertisement is a gargle, but symptoms such as obesity, gastrointestinal discomfort, facial acne, etc. may be related to Runchang. Therefore, consumers will find their own indications, generate demand and purchase products.

In view of the above, the fierce war in the future OTC market will continue to deepen, so how companies can win the opportunity, how to see the future, how to discover the inherent laws and future trends of the pharmaceutical market will be the key to pharmaceutical companies to win the competition.