Chinanews.com, March 15th (Reporter Xie Yiguan) Recently, Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and declared bankrupt at the de facto level.

As a star bank with US$209 billion in assets, which was once all the rage in the US science and technology circle, the incident has also affected some Chinese listed companies.

  At present, dozens of Chinese listed companies have released relevant news on exchanges and interactive platforms. From the perspective of their industries, pharmaceutical and biological companies account for the majority.

Therefore, some netizens asked, "After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, will it be more expensive to take medicine in the future?"

  To what extent have pharmaceutical companies been affected this time?

Will it affect the price of its products?

Video: The Silicon Valley bank collapse incident fermented Biden's voice

Source: China News Network

How much impact will it have on domestic pharmaceutical companies?

  As the 16th largest bank in the U.S., SVB is the primary financial conduit between the technology industry, startups and tech workers.

Silicon Valley Bank will bank nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed technology and life sciences companies in 2022, according to company disclosures.

  Due to its close relationship with many biopharmaceutical companies, the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank also caused an "earthquake" in the American pharmaceutical circle, and the "shock wave" spread to Chinese pharmaceutical companies.

  Recently, Kunbo Medical-B, Beihai Kangcheng-B, Jiahe Biological-B, CStone Pharmaceuticals-B, Genting Xinyao-B, Tengsheng Biopharmaceutical-B, Jiakesi-B, Cenopharma, Zai Lab, More than a dozen Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical companies, including BeiGene and Pharmaron, as well as the A-share listed company Jiuan Medical, all disclosed their deposits in Silicon Valley Bank through announcements.

Many other pharmaceutical companies urgently clarified that they did not deposit in Silicon Valley Bank.

  Judging from the current disclosure of listed companies, the proportion of deposits in Silicon Valley Bank of pharmaceutical companies that are “involved” is generally low.

Even the relatively high Tengsheng Biopharmaceutical holds less than 9% of its cash and bank balances.

Therefore, most pharmaceutical companies with deposits also know that they have little or no significant impact on the company.

  "Most of the listed companies of domestic innovative drugs and innovative devices do not have any deposits or risk exposures in Silicon Valley Bank, and only a small number of companies have very low deposits, which are expected to have a very limited impact on the company's operations." China Securities Securities Pharmaceutical He Juying, chief analyst of the industry, pointed out.

  It is worth mentioning that on March 12, local time, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC issued a joint statement, starting from March 13 (Monday), depositors can withdraw all their funds.

Any losses related to the SVB bankruptcy will not be borne by taxpayers.

  This also means that even if the relevant listed pharmaceutical companies have deposits in Silicon Valley Bank, they can still withdraw, or it will not affect the company's financial status.

  At present, listed companies have successfully allocated funds.

For example, Jiuan Medical issued an announcement on the 14th that the company's deposits in Silicon Valley Bank can be used in full without loss.

Screenshot of Jiu'an Medical announcement.

Will drug prices be affected?

  Judging from the feedback from listed pharmaceutical companies about the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, the situation is relatively optimistic.

It also dampened speculation about whether the collapse of a Silicon Valley bank would affect drug prices.

  Regarding drug price adjustments, Shi Luwen, director of the International Research Center for Pharmaceutical Management at Peking University, told reporters from Zhongxin Finance that companies, especially listed pharmaceutical companies, will not adjust prices at will. Now that the pressure of drug competition is high, price adjustments will affect their market sales.

"Unless the drug is an exclusive variety, but if it is not an essential drug, sales will also be affected."

  Shi Luwen also stated that drug pricing is a price setting by companies in accordance with market laws under market competition.

Now pharmaceutical companies can set their own prices for drugs, but they also need to accept market supervision. If there are too many price adjustments, relevant departments will also track and monitor them, and driving up prices is not acceptable.

  "In terms of drug pricing, there is another situation that needs to be paid attention to, that is, the price of a drug that is included in the national medical insurance catalog and purchased through negotiation or centralized bidding cannot be adjusted at will." Shi Luwen added.

  The reporter noticed that the "Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that for drugs with market-adjusted prices according to law, drug marketing authorization holders, drug manufacturers, drug dealers, and medical institutions should follow fair, reasonable, honest, credit, quality The price should be set according to the principle of matching the price, so as to provide drug users with drugs at reasonable prices.

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