The centralized procurement of aneurysm clips has once again faced the "full import" predicament. Where is the way for domestic products to break through?

Recently, the results of the volume-based joint procurement of aneurysm clips and other medical consumables in the "3+N" alliance of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei were announced. The products of the five selected enterprises were all imported, with prices ranging from 1,950 to 2,400 yuan per piece.

Doesn't this scene look a bit familiar? Just as the competition venue is always filled with "foreign players" while domestic players are still waiting and getting ready - behind this is a price tug-of-war that has been fought from the "ten-thousand-yuan era" to the "thousand-yuan range".

Is the price stable at 2,000 yuan? Centralized procurement had already been foreshadowed

The aneurysm clip may look small, but it is actually a "life-saving clamp" in neurosurgery - a "miniature spring clip" made of titanium alloy or stainless steel, which can precisely clamp the neck of a brain aneurysm to prevent vascular rupture and bleeding. It is a high-value Class III consumable without any problem.

But before the centralized procurement, it was a member of the "ten-thousand-yuan club", with each piece costing tens of thousands of yuan.

In fact, although aneurysm clips are not frequent participants in provincial centralized procurement, they have had some "on-camera experiences" before.

In April 2023, Hebei took the lead in the Sanming Alliance's centralized procurement, and the selected prices of imported products ranged from 1,950 to 2,586 yuan. In September of the same year, Henan Province led a 23-province alliance for procurement, with the highest price of aneurysm clips reaching 2,529.9 yuan and the lowest remaining at 1,950 yuan.

The results of the selection of aneurysm clips in the 19 types of medical consumables volume-based procurement led by Hebei and organized by the Sanming Alliance

河南牵头23省神经外科类联盟采购-动脉瘤夹中选结果

The results of these two rounds directly became the "price benchmark" for the subsequent alliance.

This time, the "3+N" alliance in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been played in a more detailed way: volume-based linkage and mutual selection.

For products selected in other provinces, the quoted price cannot exceed the historical lowest price. The new contestant's winning price is even lower than the highest winning price of the same variety. Even more ruthless is the "dynamic price chasing" mechanism - if the selected product has a lower price in other provinces, it will automatically trigger a linked price reduction.

Experts will also keep an eye on the "high-priced players" for on-site negotiations. Coupled with the hard requirement of a stable supply for two years, any failure to supply will result in disqualification, and hospitals will have to purchase according to the agreed quantity. After a series of combined measures, the price has dropped further from the previous peak of over 2,500 yuan, firmly standing in the range of around 2,000 yuan.

Are domestic products still "waiting for the stage"? Low prices force the accelerated "entry"

Although the current centralized procurement list is full of imported brands, with "big players" like Braun, Medtronic and Stryker almost monopolizing the global and Chinese markets, domestic players are actually not idle.

At present, no aneurysm clips that can clinically replace imported ones have been launched in China. However, some enterprises have set their sights on the tough nut of precision processing of titanium alloys, quietly conducting research and development and striving for registration.

The centralized procurement has pushed the price down to around 2,000 yuan, which instead seems to have pressed the "accelerator" for domestic enterprises. After all, low prices mean that the high profit margin of imported products is compressed.

As long as domestic products can obtain the "entry ticket" through registration, they will have every chance to get a share of the pie by leveraging their cost and supply chain advantages.

"Industry upheaval?" Channel reshaping and technological iteration hold hidden opportunities

This ongoing centralized procurement is quietly rewriting the industry rules of aneurysm clips. The high-margin model of multiple layers of distribution that imported brands once adopted has been "cut" to pieces. Manufacturers have no choice but to bypass middlemen and directly connect with hospitals, implementing a "channel flattening" approach.

This means that the era of making money by raising prices has come to an end, and competing in supply efficiency and cost control has become the new arena.

New changes are also brewing on the product side. After the prices of ordinary aneurysm clips were flattened, thin, absorbable and coated high-end models became the "premium reserve", which will be the focus of the next round of differentiated competition. As the DRG/DIP payment standards are lowered along with the centralized procurement prices, hospitals are more sensitive to costs. Those enterprises that can leverage their scale advantages - whether imported or future domestic - will be more favored.

The current aneurysm clip market is much like a competition dominated by foreign players, but domestic players are already getting ready in the warm-up area. From external cranial drainage to other neurosurgical consumables, the story of domestic substitution has been unfolding. Back then, both the meninges and cranial locks had made a comeback from being "fully imported" to being "dominated by domestic products". It might only be a matter of time before the domestic production of aneurysm clips breaks the deadlock.

After all, in the race of medical consumables, haven't we often seen the drama of "latecomers taking the lead"?