In recent news from Dajiyuan on March 13, 2025, Lianhua Qingwen capsules have always been highly regarded by the people in mainland China as a star product. However, the price of Lianhua Qingwen capsules has recently seen a significant drop. A search on Jingdong, a popular online shopping platform in China, revealed that the price of Lianhua Qingwen capsules is as low as 3.49 yuan per box of 24 capsules, and even as low as 9.9 yuan for 3 boxes of 24 capsules, which is equivalent to selling each pill for less than 0.14 yuan.
According to a report by Red Star News, at the flagship store of Yaojide Pharmacy, the price of Lianhua Qingwen capsules is 3.49 yuan per box (with 24 capsules). If one buys ten boxes at once, it only costs 29 yuan, equivalent to 2.9 yuan per box, with each pill costing only 0.12 yuan. However, the customer service staff at the store indicated that the low-priced Lianhua Qingwen capsules are near-expiry drugs, close to expiring by May 31, 2025. Many pharmacies selling Lianhua Qingwen capsules have marked them with “expiry date until May/June 2025.”
Elephant News reported on March 12 that a review of the related performance and financial information of Ling Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Lianhua Qingwen, revealed that the price reduction and “sell-off” of Lianhua Qingwen capsules may be related to the inventory backlog and performance losses faced by Ling Pharmaceuticals.
During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Lianhua Qingwen capsules gained immense popularity. Its main producer, Ling Pharmaceuticals, had vigorously promoted it as a traditional Chinese medicine for “antiviral” and “relieving flu symptoms.” However, controversies regarding its effectiveness have persisted.
In 2020, the Chinese National Medical Products Administration approved Lianhua Qingwen for the treatment of mild and common types of COVID-19. Various versions of the “Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia” (issued by the National Health Commission of China) have recommended it as part of the traditional Chinese medicine treatment plan.
Due to the increased public demand for antiviral medications during the pandemic, sales of Lianhua Qingwen soared, leading to multiple instances of panic buying. At the end of 2022, with a sudden relaxation of epidemic prevention measures by the Chinese government and a sharp increase in infections, Lianhua Qingwen temporarily sold out, resulting in instances of high-price resale.
In 2022, Lianhua Qingwen capsules held a market share of 10.20% in the cold medicine and fever-reducing category.
In 2022, the production of Ling Pharmaceuticals’ capsule formulation was 19.247 billion pills, with sales of 19.716 billion pills and an inventory of 4.261 billion pills. The sales volume of capsule formulations increased by 33.06% year-on-year, mainly due to the increased market demand for Lianhua Qingwen capsules.
In 2023, the production of capsule formulations was 14.312 billion pills, with sales of 12.58 billion pills and an inventory of approximately 5.992 billion pills.
In late January of this year, Ling Pharmaceuticals released its 2024 performance forecast, expecting a net loss of approximately 600 million to 800 million yuan in 2024, a decrease of 144.37% to 159.16% compared to the previous year.
Ling Pharmaceuticals stated that the main reasons for the change in performance were: some respiratory products approaching the expiration date during the reporting period, leading to the planned reduction of related product sales income and the provision for impairment losses on inventory close to expiry, along with a decrease in revenue during the reporting period, rising raw material prices resulting in a decline in gross profit margin, sustained high investment in research and development, leading to a significant reduction in operating profit and the occurrence of losses.