Focus on China: Trade agreement with USA imminent?

Some welcome news for the global economy which broke over the weekend, as announced by the US trade representative, is that the US and China are “close to finalising some sections” of an interim agreement to ease trade tensions between the two countries. This is also a welcome development for OTC marketers, including RB, whose newly-appointed CEO Laxman Narasimhan recently stated that the company’s disappointing Q3 performance was primarily due to issues in USA and China.

Growth in China’s OTC market slowed to 5.3% in the MAT Q2 2019 period, owing to a low key cough & cold season and a weakening economy. Nicholas Hall was a speaker at the Global Self-Care Federation (GCSF) conference – a joint meeting of the Chinese, Asian and global CHC associations, held in Beijing last week – and wrote: “It is always valuable to come to the second-largest CHC market, which in just a few years will be the world’s biggest economy. There are major opportunities here, but increasing challenges too as the Government takes a tougher line on pricing and distribution, without easing the regulatory barriers.”

Judy Stenmark kicked off proceedings at the GSCF 2019 conference

Nicholas Hall also wrote that: “Among the many presentations during the 2 days, some of which lasted for as little as 15 minutes – this was truly a conveyor belt conference, with only one panel discussion and no questions from the floor – a presentation that stood out for me was from Conba, a company about which I knew very little. Hu Jiqiang, Chairman of Conba Group, made the startling claim that Conba will become the biggest producer of medical cannabis in China and possibly the world … And, of course, the presentation by Alibaba Health was one to sit up and listen to at the end of an exhausting two days. This really is a game-changing company as I discuss in my New Paradigms report.“

The rise of Chinese marketers within the global OTC rankings has been a notable trend in 2019. Our latest MAT Q2 2019 data shows that China Resources 999 now takes 9th position globally, and grew by 7.3% in the year to end-June 2019. Additionally, as explored in one of our recent blog posts, By-Health has broken into the global Top 20 and now claims 15th spot. This company has bucked the trend of decelerating growth in China, with sales growing by 31% in MAT Q2 2019. China accounts for over 90% of By-Health’s OTC portfolio turnover, with Australia accounting for the remainder.

Some of the latest innovations and technologies impacting CHC will be at the forefront of the agenda at next month’s OTC.NewDirections Executive Conference, which will take place in London on 14 November, with speakers from key players including Mundipharma, J&J and Bayer. Please contact jennifer.odonnell@NicholasHall.com to book your place or find out more. If you are unable to join us, you can always view Nicholas’ opening address live at 09:05 GMT here

Highlights from OTC DASHBOARD’s Q2 update

The latest quarterly report on the global OTC market is now available on the OTC DASHBOARD website, including data & trends on the market’s performance at a global, regional and Top 20 country level in the year to end-June 2019. Here we highlight some of the key topline trends from this Q2 update, selecting one major global development from each of our company, category and brand watch sections.

Company Watch

M&A activity completed in 2019 has seen a reshuffle in the rankings of the top global OTC marketers; most notably, GSK is now by far the No.1 consumer healthcare marketer globally, following the closure of its OTC merger with Pfizer in August 2019, giving it a 6.8% share. This consolidation has led to the emergence of new competitors, most notably By-Health, which has broken into the global Top 20 and now claims 15th spot.

While decelerating growth in Emerging Markets, especially China, has been a key macroeconomic trend affecting the wider economy and the consumer healthcare industry, one company that has bucked the trend with accelerating growth (+31%) is By-Health. China accounts for over 90% of By-Health’s OTC portfolio turnover, with Australia accounting for the remainder. In China, the company fields brands including dynamic longline range By-Health and glucosamine supplement Keylid, backed by an intensive A+P strategy.

Category Watch

Analysing the performance of the major OTC categories at a global level, gastrointestinals enjoyed the fastest growth in the MAT Q2 2019 period, with sales up 4.9%. Antinauseants (+15.9%) performed especially well, recorded a strong performance in Asia-Pacific, the largest regional market for GIs, owing to increasing levels of travel and changing diets.

Antidiarrhoeals, antispasmodics & IBS remedies and liver & bile remedies were the other best-performing categories, powered by new product innovation, as explored more fully in our Q2 update. One cloud on the horizon for GIs are the global concerns and recalls affecting antacids containing ranitidine, after some medicines were recently found to contain a nitrosamine impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) at low levels — see our previous blog for more details.

Brand Watch

Two OTC brands have global sales of over US$1bn — Vicks (P&G) and Tylenol (J&J) — and both continue to outperform the global OTC market. No.1 Vicks produced above-average growth of 5.7%, despite difficult conditions in the global cough, cold & allergy market.

A strong return to growth in North America for Vicks was at the heart of this upturn, allied with continued strong growth in Latin America, helping to offset the moderate continued decline in Europe. A major factor driving faster growth in North America for Vicks is the sedative & sleep aid range Vicks ZzzQuil, which was boosted by the US launch of a new Pure Zzzs line in 2018. This range has been extended further with Pure Zzzs Kidz in Q3 2018 and several beauty and de-stress gummy supplements in 2019.

Whether you are in the office or on the go, you can access reliable CHC data and trends from OTC DASHBOARD, accessible on tablet, smartphone and desktop, and covering 63 markets across the world. Contact Hannah.Burke@NicholasHall.com to find out how you can benefit from OTC DASHBOARD by setting up a free trial today!