医药商业行业快评报告：国家九部门联合发文，鼓励药品零售企业开展横向并购与重组

Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is "outperforming the market," indicating an expected relative increase of over 10% in the industry index compared to the broader market within the next six months [8]. Core Insights - The joint opinion from nine departments emphasizes support for prescription outflow, collaboration between retail and commercial insurance, equal treatment for outpatient services, and encourages mergers and acquisitions among pharmacies. This creates a favorable environment for leading pharmacy chains, opening a window for industry consolidation [4]. - The pharmacy industry has experienced a long-term supply-side clearing, leading to increased customer flow towards leading companies and a continuous rise in market concentration. With efforts to reduce costs and improve efficiency, performance is expected to continue improving, especially with the recent policy shift [4]. - The report suggests focusing on comprehensive pharmacy chains that have potential for mergers, clear business transformation progress, and strong capabilities for nationwide expansion or deep-rooted local market barriers. Future attention should be on policy implementation, store expansion, and performance improvement expectations [4]. Policy Highlights - The policy aims to optimize the service of designated retail pharmacies, allowing insured individuals to purchase drugs from these pharmacies with costs covered by insurance funds according to regulations. It also supports the use of personal accounts for medical expenses incurred at designated retail pharmacies [2]. - The policy encourages retail pharmacies to participate in centralized drug procurement and aims to build a commercial insurance payment guarantee system, promoting the development of commercial health insurance products that fit retail pharmacy scenarios [2][3]. - There is a push for retail pharmacies to engage in mergers and acquisitions, promoting integrated development between wholesale and retail sectors, and encouraging the sale of innovative drugs and reference preparations through retail channels [3].