On November 30, the vaccine sector bucked the trend. Junshi Biotech and Watson Biotech rose more than 5%, while Bosch Fund Vaccine Biotech ETF, Cathay Fund Vaccine ETF, Cathay Pacific Fund Vaccine ETF, China Merchants Fund Vaccine Leading ETF, Tianhong Fund Biomedical ETF, Wells Fargo Fund Vaccine Index ETF, Penghua Fund Biovaccine ETF, Cathay Pacific Fund Biomedical ETF, and Yifangda Fund Biotechnology ETF rose.
The Vaccine Biology ETF tracks the China Securities Vaccine and Biotechnology Index, which selects the securities of no more than 50 companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets involving vaccine research and development, vaccine production, vaccine consumables, vaccine production equipment, and other listed companies in the biotechnology sector as a sample. The index's top ten weighted stocks include Zhifei Biotech, Watson Biotech, Hualan Biotech, etc.
According to the news, the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases is high in winter and spring, and pathogens such as influenza, COVID-19, and mycoplasma pneumoniae are compounded, and the intensity is stronger than in previous years, drawing widespread attention.
On November 22, the World Health Organization officially requested China to provide details on the increase in respiratory diseases and cluster reports of childhood pneumonia.
On November 24, the official website of the National Health and Health Commission published the “Notice on Accomplishing the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 Infections and Other Key Infectious Diseases in Winter and Spring”, which mentions that “China may face a situation where various respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, influenza, and mycoplasma pneumoniae infections are compounded this winter and spring.”
On November 26, the National Health Commission held a press conference to introduce the situation relating to the prevention of respiratory diseases in winter in China. Recently, respiratory infectious diseases are mainly influenza. In addition, rhinovirus, mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus are also caused by others. Currently, as all regions enter winter one after another, respiratory diseases have entered a period of high incidence. The rate of cross-superimposed infections of respiratory infectious diseases has increased this year, that is, simultaneous infection with two or more pathogens, such as “mycoplasma+virus” and “virus+bacteria,” etc., has caused a high incidence of respiratory diseases in children, triggering an increase in public and market attention.
Zhongtai Securities said that in the first three quarters of 2023, HPV, bivalent hematocalysaccharide, quadrivalent hematocalysaccharide, quadriplex, and pentalinomics increased by 38.2%, 62.5%, 25.6%, 53.3%, 20.1%, and 123.1% respectively; in the first three quarters, batch issuance of HPV, syncytomics, and meningococcus achieved good growth.
Guolian Securities pointed out that vaccines are the most effective means of preventing infectious diseases, and the high influenza season is expected to accelerate the release of vaccination demand. In 2020, China's influenza vaccination rate was only 4.1%. Compared with developed countries, there is a lot of room for improvement in the penetration rate. The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively raised public awareness about vaccination. Combined with the recent spread of respiratory infectious diseases, demand for respiratory disease vaccination is expected to be boosted.
According to the Fangzheng Securities Research Report, China may face the combined spread of various respiratory diseases such as COVID-19, influenza, mycoplasma pneumoniae, syncytial virus, and adenovirus infections this winter and spring, and medical institutions at all levels will face tremendous pressure for diagnosis and treatment. The pathogens of respiratory infections are diverse, and the clinical symptoms and signs after infection are quite similar, yet there are significant differences in the corresponding pathological course and treatment methods. Symptomatic treatment is needed, and considerable demand for all aspects of infection treatment is expected to be released.