Guan Cha Zhe Wang·2025-11-19 13:34Core Viewpoint - The recent visual competition between Merck and Wantai Biopharma at the Xiamen Vaccine Conference highlights the complex reality of China's pharmaceutical industry as it breaks through technological barriers and challenges international monopolies [1][5]. Group 1: Company Strategies - Merck's promotional material emphasizes its innovative technology platform that enables the creation of virus-like particles (VLPs) closely resembling natural viruses, leading to its nine-valent HPV vaccine being approved in 112 countries with over 300 million doses administered [5][6]. - Wantai Biopharma has developed a unique prokaryotic expression system using a truncated HPV L1 protein, which has received a national patent gold award in China, demonstrating the feasibility of producing effective VLPs without complex glycosylation modifications [6][7]. Group 2: Market Impact - The entry of Wantai's bivalent vaccine has significantly reduced the price of HPV vaccines in China from the thousand-yuan range for imported products to 329 yuan, making it more accessible for millions of women and achieving global sales of over 80 million doses across 23 countries [6][7]. - Wantai's technological breakthroughs challenge the "patent jungle" in the HPV vaccine field, providing a viable path for independent innovation in China's biopharmaceutical industry [7].