Uni-PTH is a Class VII prescription new drug used to treat osteoporosis, stimulate bone growth, improve bone density and lower fracture risk. According to IMS, the China osteoporosis drug market is about RMB1.6 billion in 2016, far lower than the market in US, EU as well as Japan, which are approximately USD 25 billion every year.
Uni-E4 is for treating Type 2 diabetes. Apart from effectively controlling the blood glucose level, it is also effective for diabetes affiliated obesity to ease the patients’ overweight condition. According to IMS, it is estimated that 30% of the diabetes patients are overweight, and the domestic diabetes drug market reached RMB22 billion in 2016. Currently, 11.6% of the Chinese adults suffer from diabetes, costing the government RMB173 billion per year, creating a tremendous strain on the country’s public health system and a pressing need for effective treatment solutions.
The Company has its own sales team and engages more than 80 sales representatives. Our sales network covers 1,000 hospitals. We plan to expand our own sales team and seek opportunities to collaborate with major pharmaceutical companies to market our products, with the aim to expand our coverage to 3,000 hospitals.
Yes. Currently, Uni-Bio Science is working with two partners to commercialize their drug products. In 2015, Uni-Bio Science signed a partnership to acquire a new oral anti-diabetes drug called Mitiglinide from Jiangsu Hansoh. Mitiglinide has been approved by the CFDA to treat type 2 diabetes in a first- and second- line setting. Uni-Bio Science owns all rights to the product, and Jiangsu Hansoh will continue supplying drug to Uni-Bio Science till technology transfer is complete.
For the Year under Review, the Group recorded a turnover of HK$135.3 million, representing a decrease of 13.6% year-on-year. The decrease was mainly attributable to a weaker sales situation for one of the Group’s marketed drugs, namely Pinup®. The product faced keener price competitions across the marketplace where other market players lowered the product price, hence the sales was temporarily affected. However, sales of Pinup® had begun to pick up towards the end of the Year, thanks to its increased coverage to Guizhou, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and Hainan provinces and making the total provincial coverage to 26. The Group believes that Pinup® will enjoy a much better leverage after obtaining the BE approval, which was anticipated in 2020. Given that the Group’s major competitors who are engaged with price war in the market have not conducted BE study, obtaining the approval will allow the Group to enjoy numerous policy benefits during tendering and purchasing, thus it will further enhance the brand image and market advantage of the product. Also, the cooperation with Loymed Pharma will open up new sales channels and give rise to the revenue growth generated from Pinup®.
Cost of sales for the Year also decreased by 22.7% from HK$22.8 million in 2017 to HK$17.7 million in 2018. During the Year, gross profit was at HK$117.6 million, representing a decrease of approximately 12.0% from HK$133.6 million in 2017, mainly driven by the reduction in revenue. On the contrary, gross profit margin improved slightly from 85.4% in 2017 to 86.9% in 2018, led mainly by the increase of overall unit sales price of GeneTime®. Alongside our efforts for restructuring and re-organizing our sales team in order to achieve greater efficiency, the Group also expanded the number of sales team members. Hence the sales and distribution cost recorded an increase over the Year.
In 2018, the Group recorded a loss of HK$138.6 million with a basic loss per share of HK$2.24 cents for the Year.
Research and development costs for 2018 was approximately HK$44.2 million, representing a small uptick of 3.9% from HK$42.5 million for 2017. R&D costs proportionate to revenue increase from 27.2% for 2017 to 32.7% for the Year. We have initiated and carried on with multiple R&D projects during the Year, including the NDA of Uni-E4 and Uni-PTH, and the BE study of Acarbose and Pinup®. This year the Group maintained a healthy level of R&D expenses, partly because Beijing Baiao Pharmaceutical shared the increased R&D input with the Group on Acarbose. Riding on last year’s development of liquid formulations in an effort to increase the competitive advantages of our products, we continued to invest resources into these areas this year. R&D expenses may experience fluctuations if calculated on a year-onyear basis as drugs development, research and development enter different phases at different time, but the Group always exercise stringent cost control to make sure resources are invested appropriately and adequately. The Group will stick to build on its strategy to focus on endocrinology in the future.
