Ten days later, the bidding results for the Endoscopy Center of Kunming First People's Hospital were announced. Sanqing won the bid and received a large order of 20 million.
When the news spread, the entire medical industry was in a frenzy.
This is a big surprise for major hospitals across the country, because it means that another strong manufacturer has entered the market, and there will undoubtedly be new choices for future bidding and centralized procurement.
Moreover, if manufacturers compete fiercely, they will be able to negotiate lower prices more easily in the future.
For major equipment manufacturers, if Sanqing's winning bid is expected, then everyone will not be able to remain calm after seeing the price list.
Nothing else, because the price of Sanqing is really cost-effective.
The ultrasonic scalpel costs 500,000 yuan per set, which is similar to the mid-range price of other manufacturers, but its performance is directly top-notch and outperforms competing products.
In China, mid-range ultrasonic scalpel systems are the most popular and are the most purchased category by hospitals. Sales of low-end and high-end equipment are not high.
As for the endoscope system, the low-end one only costs over RMB 200,000, and the high-end one does not exceed one million, which is not inferior to Olympus products.
The price is friendly and the quality is excellent. Not only does it have a good clinical reputation, but it has also withstood the test of the best endoscopists in the world. It is simply the light of domestic products in the device industry.
In the past, everyone believed that cheap products did not mean good products, and that high quality and low prices did not exist.
But Sanqing convinced them that there are really cheap and high-quality things in the world, and they are also famously expensive medical and surgical equipment.
This is nothing short of a miracle.
Facing such a miracle, some people are happy and some are sad.
All the manufacturers are in mourning. The wise ones have begun to take the initiative to cut prices, while the stubborn ones are still hanging on, waiting for the hospital to teach them how to behave.
Most hospitals are very happy to have a new choice and call to inquire one after another.
They are particularly interested in ultrasonic scalpel, because the current domestic penetration rate of endoscopic equipment is quite good, most municipal hospitals have relatively mature minimally invasive surgeries, and county-level hospitals with better conditions are also good in this regard.
The "big surgery" surgery that appeared in surgery in the past has become obsolete, and it is no longer popular even in county hospitals.
Minimally invasive surgery is popular nowadays, especially laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery.
Comparing the two, there is a big difference.
Traditional laparotomy surgery often requires an incision of 20 to 30 centimeters, and the corresponding amount of blood loss is very scary. Patients may suffer from severe bleeding at any time and their lives will be in danger, and they will also feel great pain during the operation.
The cost of repairing wounds after surgery will also be greater, and problems such as wound infection are often prone to occur.
Laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery, as the name suggests, only requires 3-4 holes of a few centimeters in diameter in the abdomen to complete the purpose of the surgery.
Some doctors with superb medical skills can even drill a 5cm hole in the belly button and complete some complex major surgeries through endoscopes and ultrasonic scalpels.
After the patient's wound was sutured, the scar was only two to three centimeters, and it went deep into the belly button. It is not visible at ordinary times, and it has reached the aesthetic standard of having no scar on the body surface.
Thoracoscope can also drill holes through the breast, which can also complete most surgeries without leaving scars on the body surface.
By analogy, the future development direction of surgery is the world of laparoscopic surgery.
Not only can it be drilled from the outside, but the natural channels of the human body can also be accessed from the inside to complete various surgeries.
In addition to being non-invasive and scar-free, the amount of blood loss and pain during the operation will be much less, which is very beneficial to the patient's recovery.
Many laparoscopic ultrasound surgeries can already produce no drop of blood during the operation.
Moreover, the patient can get out of bed and take liquid food on the second day after the operation, and can be discharged from the hospital five or six days after the operation.
It only takes a week from admission to hospital for surgery to recovery and discharge. Compared with the past, which often required a week of lying down before getting out of bed and two or three months of recovery after laparotomy, it was naturally much better.
Of course, the conditions of hospitals in each county are different and cannot be generalized.
Some county hospitals can perform high-end neurosurgery and minimally invasive surgeries to bring patients with cerebral hemorrhage back from death, while other county hospitals can only cut out the appendix or remove hemorrhoids.
No matter how high-end they are, they can't do it, and the people don't trust them to do it.
But these hospitals all have one thing in common, that is, the ultrasonic scalpel has not yet become popular, and they are still using outdated electrosurgical scalpels for surgery.
The main reason for this phenomenon is that Johnson & Johnson's market share is too high and its price is too expensive. It never lowers the price. Only top-level hospitals in provincial capitals can afford it.
Municipal hospitals and county-level hospitals generally can only purchase domestically produced ultrasonic scalpels. Although the price is cheap, there is a gap in quality, and naturally they cannot be as popular as endoscopes.
In the past, they had no choice, but now with Sanqing, they can buy an ultrasonic scalpel that is better than Johnson & Johnson at a relatively reasonable price. Naturally, these city and county-level hospitals have taken notice.
After all, the current domestic economic development is not bad, the medical insurance funds have a large surplus every year, and the higher-level departments' allocations to hospitals are quite generous.
In the past few years, the country also issued a document titled "Comprehensive Improvement of the Comprehensive Capacity of County-Level Hospitals", which requires focusing on improving the clinical application capabilities of minimally invasive technologies, gradually promoting minimally invasive technologies such as endoscopy and interventional therapy, and continuously increasing the proportion of clinical use of minimally invasive technologies.
With the support from above, county-level hospitals are ready to purchase one or two ultrasonic scalpels to use in laparoscopic surgeries.
Not only does it allow the newly established minimally invasive surgery department to get rid of the shackles of electrocoagulation hooks and quickly enter the era of ultrasonic scalpels, it also allows fellow villagers to enjoy high-precision medical technology at their doorstep.
As a result, in a short period of time, the Sanqing Equipment Department received offers from many hospitals.
In the past, the hospital disclosed all the bidding information that medical representatives had tried so hard to obtain in advance.
However, most hospitals' independent bidding has limited amount and number. Generally, there are only one or two units, all of which are small bids of less than one million, and can only be regarded as appetizers.
When it comes to big meals, it has to be provincial-level bidding and centralized procurement that can cost hundreds of millions.
****
Beijing, in a quiet courtyard somewhere in the city center.
An old man with gray hair and a ruddy complexion was drinking tea in the shade of a tree.
Wang Guiqing walked in slowly, sat opposite the old man, picked up the tea on the table and started to sip it.
After drinking a cup of tea, he slowly exhaled: "Let's talk about it, it's settled."
"With the three clean-ups broken, the market fortress of the giants is no longer impregnable. This year's 16-province collective purchase, significant price reductions should not be a problem."
Tan Lao smiled slightly and said, "Xiao Wei did a good job. Finally, the ultrasonic scalpel market will not be manipulated by others."
"The old timers are right, you still have to be self-reliant. There are some things that you can't buy. Only when you have them can you be strong."
His face became serious and he said loudly: "The impact of medical equipment on national livelihoods is self-evident. We must firmly grasp our autonomy and never let what happened two years ago happen again."
Wang Guiqing nodded, with a look of recollection on his face, and said slowly: "What happened two years ago, I also think these foreign companies went too far."
"Medical institutions in sixteen provinces have formed an alliance to carry out centralized procurement of ultrasonic scalpel heads. The number of purchases is as high as 440,000. This is 50% of the Chinese market. With such a large volume, it stands to reason that the price can be negotiated."
"As a result, among the 35 registered companies, foreign companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Olympus insisted on holding on to the price without giving up, which is simply chilling."
"Haha, it's not like they didn't lower the price. Didn't they lower it by 1 penny? It's so considerate. What a huge price reduction." A gentle smile appeared on Mr. Tan's face, but there was no smile in his eyes, and there was even a faint coldness in his eyes. Flashed.
"Yes, it's really too much." Wang Guiqing slapped his thigh and said angrily: "Either you don't lower the price, or you lower the price more, just one penny. Who is this shabby?"
"Who asked us to set a maximum price? If I remember correctly, it was a blade used to close 3 mm blood vessels. The maximum guide price is 2,500. As long as the quotation does not exceed 2,500, you can get the first-year purchase amount. 70%.”
Tan Lao said slowly: "Such a favorable condition is originally a show of goodwill. We want Johnson & Johnson, which has a monopoly position, to take the initiative to lower prices. Let's talk about it."
"As a result, the quoted price was 2499.99, which was really only 1 cent lower than the highest guide price."
"What's this called? There's a price reduction, but not much, right?"
"Other imported brands have followed suit. Olympus's price is 2499.01, and the price has not been reduced by more than one yuan."
"They wouldn't even give me a dollar, and they didn't want to give me a penny more."
He shook his head with a smile: "Haha, we are overthinking. They have no intention of lowering the price at all. Adjusting the price according to the guide price is just disgusting."
"I don't know what they mean, but it doesn't matter now."
"In the past, the quality of domestically produced ultrasonic scalpels was indeed not good and was not on the same level as imported products, which resulted in multinational companies having strong bargaining power."
"But it's different now. Domestic products have caught up and there is no gap between them and international first-tier brands."
"Since we can win the Endoscopy World Cup using domestic equipment, it means that imported products have no advantage."
"This account from two years ago can be settled carefully."
Wang Guiqing suddenly smiled knowingly and said: "So this year's centralized procurement of ultrasonic scalpels in 16 provinces will be limited to domestic equipment, and Johnson & Johnson and Olympus will be excluded?"
"No, no," Mr. Tan waved his hand: "How can it be so simple and crude? Then it will give the other side an excuse to come and protest against our market protectionism."
"As long as Sanqing is brought along during the bidding process, I've also seen their price list. It's very competitive. As long as Sanqing sits there, it will be a deterrent to multinational companies."
"We will have a good discussion at that time. When Johnson & Johnson lowers the price to a reasonable level, it is not impossible to purchase some."
"Of course the bulk of the products still have to be made domestically, whether it's Sanqing, Mindray, or others."
"This..." Wang Guiqing was a little confused: "Since we plan to purchase domestic equipment, why do we bring in foreign companies to make up the numbers? Is it just to bargain?"
Tan Lao smiled faintly: "Because Sanqing's equipment has just been launched and its production capacity is limited, it cannot meet large-scale centralized procurement."
"In the first two years, we still had to recruit foreign companies to make up the numbers. Gradually, when Sanqing's production capacity increases and other domestic technologies improve, they will no longer be needed."
Wang Guiqing suddenly realized it, gave a thumbs up and said: "Talk about the old man, good advice, good advice!"
****
July is destined to be an extraordinary month. Many things that happened in this month have had a profound impact on the Chinese medical community.
On July 30, just half a month after the end of the Endoscopy World Cup, the "Centralized Volume Procurement Documents for Medical Devices in Sixteen Provinces" was officially released.
An inter-provincial alliance formed by 16 provinces, autonomous regions, and corps across the country, headed by Guangdong Province, will carry out provincial-level centralized bulk procurement of ultrasonic scalpel equipment and heads on behalf of medical institutions in the region.
The main purpose is to cooperate with minimally invasive surgery and promote advanced ultrasonic scalpel equipment to city and county-level hospitals, thereby benefiting the people.
This is a purchase contract with a three-year cycle, which is renewed every year. The quantity is large and the management is full, but the price is decisive and must satisfy the father of the funder.
The sales of the entire Chinese ultrasonic scalpel market in the next three years will depend on the results of this purchase.
As soon as the news came out, the entire equipment industry was shocked.
Looking at the sky-high purchase volume, many equipment manufacturers are beating their chests and regretting why they don't have an ultrasonic scalpel business.
Manufacturers of ultrasonic scalpel products are secretly happy and gearing up, thinking that they will definitely get a piece of the pie.
The only ones who are unhappy are probably Johnson & Johnson and other foreign equipment giants.
As soon as they saw the 16-province alliance attacking again, they knew that the price bargain for ultrasonic scalpels had begun.
The theme of this collective purchase is very simple and clear, and everyone knows it.
Price reduction, price reduction, price reduction!
Large size means greater bargaining power. With the size of the 16-province alliance, price competition is inevitable.
In previous years, they relied on the quality gap between domestic and imported products to widen the price gap and fool big investors.
This year, things have not been so easy.
Especially after Sanqing enters the bidding list, it is bound to become the sharpest knife in China. It will strike hard at the equipment giants and will not stop until a river of blood is shed.
Even so, Johnson & Johnson can only bite the bullet and fight.
If they withdraw from centralized procurement, they will offend China's largest customer and completely disappear from the purchasing list.
As for China, which has a huge market with a monopoly rate of 90%, Johnson & Johnson cannot give up.
Just when the centralized purchasing alliance of 16 provinces showed its bargaining power.
At six o'clock in the afternoon, Wei Kangzheng walked happily towards his home with two chickens in his hands.
The two chickens, whose feet were tightly trapped by strings, struggled in the plastic bags and sang loudly from time to time, attracting the attention of passers-by.
However, when most people saw that it was the boss, they quickly suppressed their smiles and turned around, pretending not to have seen this scene at all.
Wei Kang didn't care. He nodded to the employees he knew and strode home quickly.
"Haha, the farm has finally shipped the goods. Although the organic pigs have not been released yet, the free-range chickens are ready to eat."
He rubbed his hands together excitedly, released the two chickens from the plastic bags, and locked them in the kitchen.
However, after the excitement, Wei Kang sat on the sofa in the living room, listening to the "clucking" sound coming from the kitchen, and couldn't help but feel worried.
"Oh no, how do you kill a chicken? I've never done this before."
"I should have known that next time I would have them slaughtered and then brought over."
He was frowning when he suddenly heard the sound of the door opening.
Looking back, I saw that it was my wife who had come back from get off work.
"Eh? Why is there a rooster crowing at home?" Jian Jianyun looked over with confusion.
Wei Kang showed an awkward smile: "Didn't I set up an organic farm? The free-range chickens just came out of the market, so I asked them to send two over to see how they taste."
"It's just that I seem to have forgotten one thing. I don't seem to know how to kill a chicken."
"Honey, don't worry, I'll ask the administrator to call an aunt over later..."
"Wait, honey, the chicken is in the kitchen, don't go in."
"Hey, wife, what are you doing?"
Jian Lian Yun had already entered the kitchen without looking back, leaving a few words behind.
"Why do you still call me aunt? Why don't you just kill a chicken? I know how to do it."
"One knife and two swords are not so troublesome."
Wei Kang was stunned for a moment when he heard the miserable crow of chickens coming from the kitchen.
Before he could react, the kitchen door opened a crack, revealing a head.
"Honey, why are you standing there? I can't do this alone. Come over here and help me de-feather the chicken."
Wei Kang walked into the kitchen and saw that it was spotless, with no signs of blood spraying as expected.
I looked at the water tank again and saw two chickens lying in it, their limbs stiff and dead.
The cut at the throat was smooth, and the fatal blow was crisp and clean.
He fell silent immediately.
(End of chapter)
