On August 23, based on the consensus reached between China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sinopharm”) and Fuzhou Maixin Biotechnology Development Co., Ltd., Beijing Sinopharm Strong Pharmaceutical Foreign Trade Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Sinopharm Strong”), a subsidiary of Sinopharm, officially signed the “p16/Ki-67 Immunocytochemistry Detection Kit Agency Agreement” with Maixin.
The first cooperation agreement has been signed and implementedThis marks that after Maixin’s asset restructuring in 2020 and officially becoming a holding subsidiary under the Sinopharm system and Strong Biotech, the three parties have taken solid steps in fully integrating their respective resource advantages and strengthening industrial synergy and complementarity., jointly promoting the leapfrog development of China’s in vitro diagnostic industry.
The agreement designates Sinopharm Strong as the commercial platform, with Henan Province and all medical institutions under Sinopharm as pilot areas, responsible forp16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry detection reagentkitpromotion and sales, and uses this as an opportunity to explore efficient and successful models covering the national market. Based on fully integrating the brand advantages, R&D advantages, channel advantages, and terminal advantages of both parties, they will jointly promote China’s cervical cancer precision screening demonstration technology. At the same time, they will strengthen the upstream and downstream collaborative mechanisms between the two parties, and jointly build a comprehensive platform for pathology products and services regarding immunohistochemistry and related pathology products as well as third-party pathology diagnosis.
The status of cervical cancer in ChinaScreeningTEXT_11
China bears a heavy burden of cervical cancer. Since the launch of the “Two Cancers” (cervical cancer and breast cancer) screening project in rural China in 2009, cervical cancer screening has covered 2,118 counties and districts nationwide, providing free cervical examinations to over 100 million rural women aged 35–64 cumulatively. In 2019, the rural women’s “Two Cancers” screening project was incorporated into basic public health services. In urban areas, comprehensive hospitals at all levels, specialized hospitals, and physical examination centers have also correspondingly carried out cervical cancer screening and physical examination services.
Maixin p16/Ki-67 Immunocytochemistry Detection Kit
Despite this, China still faces many practical issues such as low overall cervical cancer screening rates, weak primary service capabilities, outdated products and technologies used in large-scale screening, lack of effective supervision and evaluation measures, and poor accessibility of screening for women in remote areas. In 2015, the proportion of Chinese women aged 20–64 who had ever undergone cervical cancer screening was 25.7% (with a screening rate of 31.4% for those aged 35–64), of which 30.0% were in urban areas and 22.6% in rural areas. China is still far from the goal of universal regular cervical cancer screening.
Screening remains a crucial part of the cervical cancer prevention and control system. How to achieve the WHO’s “Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer,” which aims by 2030 to have 90% of girls fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) by age 15; 70% of women screened with a high-performance test by age 35 and again by age 45; and 90% of women identified with cervical disease receiving treatment (90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed), is a severe reality and challenge we face.
Positive and Significant Implications
Sinopharm’s introduction of Maixin’s p16/Ki-67 immunocytochemistry detection product this time, while balancing and integrating the high sensitivity and specificity of HPV testing and cytology, fully considers many practical issues such as national investment costs, local medical construction capabilities, the shortage of cytologists, and the lack of effective supervision and evaluation conditions. Moreover, it gives more consideration to the feasibility of widespread implementation of cervical cancer screening, health equity, and cost-effectiveness, improves the detection rate of cervical cancer, reduces the rate of missed diagnoses, and assists in correcting transient HPV positivity and unreliable cytology results, thereby significantly reducing medical expenditures. This has positive and significant implications for achieving the “Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer” by 2030.
