The pilot vaccine business was outsourced, the sales team signed a "performance bet", and "Universe Factory" Pfizer started a major adjustment

Yu Shi-chi Zhang Hao / text last two weeks, Pfizer appears to be a series of partial heard "negative" information, the most immediate change is in the vaccine business.

First, it was reported that the business system in China was added to the employee performance improvement plan, which is a word often seen in the sales department-PIP, which would basically be regarded as a precursor to "layoffs". Different from other business lines, the quarterly assessment line of the vaccine business is only 45% of the performance , while the other business lines are 90%, that is, the performance is below this indicator, and the personnel department will intervene to discuss how to deal with it.

Under the literal meaning, Pfizer should have taken the initiative to lower its targets in the vaccine business, and lowered it substantially. Regarding the PIP plan and the adjustment of the vaccine business's goals, Jingguanda Health asked Pfizer for verification, and the relevant staff said that it is still unclear for the time being.

After that, it was reported that Pfizer would pilot "outsourcing" in the domestic vaccine business, and promote vaccine sales in "peripheral cities" through a third-party pharmaceutical sales outsourcing company. However, the definition of "peripheral cities" is not conventional, and it is rumored that even the business in the Shanghai area has to be outsourced. The information has not been confirmed by Pfizer, but many industry insiders said that Pfizer has contacted some sales companies.

If you look at these two things together, Pfizer may have piloted the "direct operation + outsourcing" model in the vaccine business, and lowering the target amount is to vacate some areas and "let" it to partners to do it.

This can be regarded as a direct result of the adjustment of the new organizational structure in China announced in September. In the new structure, the broad market team is set up as an independent business unit for the first time. Peng Zhenke, who had just transferred from Sanofi to Pfizer in the second half of the year, established the first independent business unit of a foreign-funded pharmaceutical company in China to serve the grassroots market when he was at Sanofi.

Nowadays, this has almost become the standard equipment for foreign-funded companies in China. The high drug prices of foreign companies in centralized procurement and medical insurance policies are not "friendly", making it difficult for them to continue to seize the market. However, with deep accumulation in channels and product lines before, foreign pharmaceutical companies have increased their expansion in sales networks, becoming more and more like "CSO (sales outsourcing company)."

In addition, China's chief operating officer Wu Kun was reported to have confirmed his resignation, which is equivalent to the new organizational structure that will greatly expand Pfizer's existing domestic coverage area through a broad market team. When Peng Zhenke took office, based on this person's management style, the industry mentioned that Pfizer's structure may be flatter and transformed into a business-oriented structure.

Piloting the vaccine business seems to be a path in line with Pfizer's current situation. Its domestic vaccine business has only one product-the 13-valent pneumonia vaccine. However, this product was the well-deserved "king of vaccines" before the birth of the new crown pneumonia vaccine. In 2018, Pfizer's global sales of 5.8 billion U.S. dollars were the "sales champion" in the vaccine industry that year and the only vaccine product among the top ten pharmaceutical sales.

From the perspective of industry competition, Watson Bio ( 300142 ) , the world's second approved product for this product at the end of 2019, had a great impact on it. In 2020, Watson Biotech issued 4.47 million units in batches throughout the year. Although it did not exceed Pfizer's 6.42 million units, it took only one year to reach 70% of Pfizer's. Jingguanda Health reporter learned from previous communications with industry professionals that Watson Biotech and Pfizer directly exchanged market share in certain areas, with the former occupying the bulk of the market.

However, judging from the current situation, the two companies have not yet reached a state of "fighting". From the product side, Watson Bio has obvious advantages, pricing is 15% lower, and has a wider audience (Pfizer products are suitable for infants from 6 weeks to 15 months old, Watson Bio is suitable for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old ). However, the two companies are still rushing for new markets. Shanxi Securities ( 002500 ) data shows that Pfizer's batch issuance volume from January to April this year also increased by 257.11% year-on-year.

The average annual number of newborns in my country is more than 10 million. Last year, 10 million were issued in batches. One newborn needs to be vaccinated with four injections, and the penetration rate does not exceed 20%. Before Watson Bio's products appeared, Pfizer, as an exclusive product, was out of stock all year round, and even medical institutions in some places directly "cut" the service. From a certain perspective, as long as Watson Biotechnology guarantees supply, it will get a lot of market share.

Moreover, the 13-valent pneumonia vaccine belongs to the second type of vaccine. The government did not purchase it uniformly, but the people at their own expense, and there is no rumor that the vaccine should be included in the first type of vaccine. This means that the scale of the market is very large, certainly more than 10 billion yuan. But it must have a strong sales network to support it, and relying on Pfizer's original own structure, it is difficult to keep up with Watson Bio's rhythm.

On December 11, Watson Biological announced that it was preparing to expand its production from the original 30 million doses/year to 60 million doses/year. Kangtai Biotech ( 300601 ), which has just been approved for the third domestic 13-valent pneumonia vaccine, started a price war as soon as it came up, and the price of Watson Bio was reduced by 20%. Insight data show that Kang Xinuo biology, biological Bowo Wuhan, Chengdu Andrew Gold Bio, Lanzhou Biological Products Institute , Beijing Sinovac also underway in Victoria biological 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine research and development.

One year's potential energy has allowed Watson Bio to obtain nearly half of the market share. No adjustment is made. Even if Pfizer is called the "Universal Factory", it will even "lose" this product. It must be more flexible and unite more partners to reach more customers. The adjustment of the sales path based on the vaccine business can also directly reflect the direction of Pfizer's overall structural adjustment, and Jingguanda Health will continue to pay attention.