On the evening of July 27, an explosion occurred in the crude iohexol production workshop of the Xianju factory of Zhejiang Stellite Pharmaceutical and caused a fire, causing serious injuries to 2 people.
Stellite issued an announcement on the morning of the 28th that half an hour after the explosion, the fire was basically under control, and the local environmental protection bureau had tested the surrounding atmospheric environment and water quality.
Zhejiang Stellite Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was established in 1997. It is a high-tech enterprise specializing in R&D, production and sales of X-CT non-ionic contrast agent series and quinolones series APIs and intermediates.
The main products of Stellite's iodine contrast agent are iohexol, iopamidol, and iodixanol; the main products of quinolones are levofloxacin and levofloxacin hydrochloride.
At present, Stellite has established cooperative relations with major domestic manufacturers of iodine contrast agent preparations such as Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, Beilu Pharmaceuticals, Yangtze River Pharmaceuticals and foreign generic pharmaceutical companies such as Japan's Fuji.
It is worth noting that due to the good business conditions of the company and the global public health incidents, Stellite’s share price rose by nearly 160% in 2020 and nearly 10 times since the second half of 2018. It is a "big cow" sought after by stockholders. share".
Contrast media (also known as contrast media, contrast media) is a chemical product injected (or taken) into human tissues or organs to enhance the effect of image observation. The density of these products is higher or lower than the surrounding tissues, and the contrast formed is used to display images with certain devices. Such as X-ray observation of commonly used iodine preparations, barium sulfate, etc.
Iohexol is the raw material for the production of water-soluble, non-ionic X-CT contrast agents in pharmaceutical factories. The trade name of this contrast agent is Onipak. This contrast agent is usually injected into the vein before CT diagnosis is performed. It is used for angiography, urinary system, spinal cord, hip joint, and lymphatic system imaging. It has the advantages of low contrast density, low toxicity, and good tolerance. It is currently the best One of the contrast agents.
Iohexol injection is excreted through the kidneys, and the excretion rate is generally 99% within 30 minutes, which is basically harmless to the human body.
According to data from the Newport Premium database, in 2018, the global market size of iohexol was US$1.237 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.82%; according to PDB data, the domestic iohexol market in 2019 was 2.709 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.54% .
The data shows that in 2019, the operating revenue of iohexol raw materials in Stellite Xianju plant was 360 million yuan, accounting for 27.49% of the company's overall operating revenue, and the gross profit generated was 130 million yuan, accounting for 23.52% of the company's overall gross profit.
In 2019, Stellite produced 593.8 tons of iohexol and sold 667.8 tons. It is the core production and supplier of iohexol in China.
The main domestic suppliers of iohexol raw materials are Stellite, Zhejiang Taizhou Poseidon Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Haichang Pharmaceutical. At present, Haichang Pharmaceutical is in the process of suspending production due to the expansion of its production line. After the explosion, there is basically only one iohexol raw material manufacturer in Zhejiang Taizhou Haishen Pharmaceutical. In 2018, Poseidon Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Stellite and became its wholly-owned subsidiary.
Public information shows that Poseidon has a 180-ton/year iohexol production line.
Therefore, it is inferred from the market supply pattern that the explosion may cause a more obvious supply tightening in the iohexol market, which may drive a series of price adjustments for related products in the later period.
However, some downstream pharmaceutical companies said that although Stellite is its main supplier, because the company will have a safety stock, the production of iohexol injection may not be affected in the short term.
However, whether there will be major supply changes in the iohexol and contrast media market in the future will still depend on the inventory of Stellite iohexol and the resumption of production in the explosion workshop.
