International brands aims to the “Medical Products Certificate”. Recently, Mentholatum, the leading player in the lip care market, launched its first series of medical repair patches. This internationally renowned brand, with a history of over a century, has stepped into the medical device field, and the ‘Medical Products Certificate’ dressing market has once again welcomed a well-known brand entering the scene.
It is worth noting that Mentholatum is not the first international company to launch “Medical Products Certificate” products. Just a few months ago, SkinCeuticals, a subsidiary of L’Oréal, also took the lead in launching the first Class III medical device product, Collagen III Regen, directly entering the field of medical aesthetic injections. This indicates that with more and more brands joining, the market competition for ‘Medical Products Certificate’ products will become increasingly intense.
Mentholatum launches new products with Medical Products Certificate
According to official information from Mentholatum, the brand has recently launched its “Medical Products Certificate” new products. The current lineup includes the “Medical Recombination Type III Human Collagen Protein Repair Dressing” and the “Medical Sodium Hyaluronate Dressing.” It can be said that they have stepped into the two hottest tracks of the “Medical Products Certificate” dressing products: recombinant collagen protein and sodium hyaluronate.
Specifically, the former focuses on recombinant Type III human collagen protein and claims to be suitable for use before and after invasive medical aesthetic procedures, with a focus on repair before the procedure and scar prevention afterward. The latter claims to adopt a three-tier molecular matrix sodium hyaluronate concept for wound healing and emphasizes skin barrier repair. Currently, both products are available on Mentholatum’s flagship store on Tmall, with a post-discount price of 171.16 yuan per box (5 pieces).
According to Frost Sullivan’s forecast, the market size of China’s skincare product industry is expected to reach 518.5 billion yuan by 2026, with the market size of medical device dressing products reaching 25.38 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 30%. In this rapidly growing market, some strong brands are strategically launching “Medical Products Certificate” products, aiming to secure a share in this still relatively untapped segment.
However, it is important to note that based on the current market performance, the leading brands ranking high on e-commerce platforms are more or less associated with pharmaceutical research and development, while purely functional skincare brands remain a minority. This is partly due to the strong association between the “medical device” attribute and pharmaceutical companies in consumer perception.
In fact, on Mentholatum’s promotional pages, the brand also emphasizes its pharmaceutical background by prominently displaying phrases such as “Originated in 1889, focusing on pharmaceuticals,” “Mentholatum, dedicated to pharmaceuticals,” and “Centennial pharmaceutical company.”
Public information shows that Mentholatum was originally founded in 1889 as a US company with a pharmaceutical background. Its founder was a pharmacist, and the first product was the “Mentholatum ointment,” which had analgesic and itch-relief effects and was formulated using ingredients like menthol and petrolatum.
In 1988, the Mentholatum brand was acquired by Japan’s Rohto Pharmaceutical, one of the largest companies in the Japanese OTC pharmaceutical market and a leading company in the Japanese eye drops market. This further deepened Mentholatum’s pharmaceutical DNA, and many of its production equipment and technological endorsements come from its parent company, Rohto Pharmaceutical. From this perspective, Mentholatum’s entry into the “Medical Products Certificate” products undoubtedly leverages its own advantages as a pharmaceutical company.
According to information on its official website, Mentholatum China mainly produces skincare products such as lip balms, men’s skincare, women’s skincare, sunscreens, and acne treatments. At the same time, its business scope also includes various series, including Rohto eye drops and OTC pharmaceuticals.
However, CHAILEEDO also noticed that the registrant for Mentholatum’s “Medical Products Certificate” products is Haerbin Yunmeida Biotech Co., Ltd. (referred to as Yunmeida). This company primarily focuses on the research, development, and manufacturing of medical repair medical devices and functional cosmetics and has more than 20 registered medical device products under its umbrella.
Major players enter the game, the resurgence of “Medical Products Certificate”
From the current market perspective, in addition to companies with a strong pharmaceutical background, functional skincare brands are also seeking ways to break through, and many top domestic brands have already taken action.
For example, Winona, which emerged from the OTC pharmacy channel, has early on introduced Class II “Medical Products Certificate” dressing products to the market. With its leading brand effect in sensitive skin care, Winona has become one of the few functional skincare brands to achieve success in the Class II “Medical Products Certificate” dressing track. Financial reports show that BTN has obtained at least 18 Class II medical device registration certificates.
According to the 2023 financial report, BTN’s revenue from medical device products (including hyaluronic acid repair biofilm and hyaluronic acid repair dressings) was 463 million yuan, accounting for 8.42% of its main business revenue, with an average price that is more than double that of skincare products. It is understood that BTN is still building its medical device research and quality management system, organizing the development of medical new materials, reserving Class II and Class III medical device products, and preparing for registration applications.
As early as 2022, Marubi announced a ten-year plan for recombinant collagen protein, and various categories of “Medical Products Certificate” products were included. Last year, Marubi officially launched a series of Class II medical device products, including a dressing patch and a liquid dressing. According to Marubi’s plan, its Class III medical device products, such as “recombinant collagen protein water light injection” and “recombinant collagen protein filling,” will be officially launched before 2028.
In addition, Shanghai Jahwa’s brand Dr. Yu has also launched a series of “Medical Products Certificate” products this year, including Yuze recombinant collagen protein repair dressings and Yuze medical recombinant Type III human collagen protein repair solution. The main core ingredient of both products is recombinant Type III human collagen protein, mainly targeting post-aesthetic procedure wounds, barrier damage, and secondary sensitivity issues. The relevant person in charge of Shanghai Jahwa also stated to CHAILEEDO that “the above-mentioned products will be sold through online and offline channels, as well as pharmacy and hospital channels.”
Of course, Mentholatum is not the only international brand expanding into “Medical Products Certificate” products. In March of this year, SkinCeuticals, a high-end professional brand under L’Oréal, launched its first Class III medical device product, SkinCeuticals Platinum Research, based on the concept of “holistic skincare.” The product is a recombinant Type III human collagen protein solution for injection.
Public information shows that the registrant for SkinCeuticals’ new product is Shanxi Jinbo Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which is also Jinbo Bio’s second recombinant collagen protein medical aesthetic injection. The product is used for “facial dermal tissue filling to correct dynamic wrinkles in the forehead area (including glabellar lines, forehead wrinkles, and crow’s feet).”
Currently, “Medical Products Certificate” products have become an important direction for top brands to find new market opportunities, and “medical aesthetics + collagen” and “Medical Products Certificate + repair” have become new competitive advantages. It can be foreseen that the number of brands entering this track will continue to grow in the future, and competition in this field will become increasingly fierce.
Who can recreate the “Medical Products Certificate” myth?
In fact, the current market’s preference for pharmaceutical endorsements and professionalism in “Medical Products Certificate” products stems from increasingly strict regulatory policies.
Initially, the market was flooded with products bearing names like “Medical Products Certificate Mask” and “Medical Aesthetic Mask.” Some brands and companies took advantage of the concept of medical aesthetics to either blur the line between “Medical Products Certificate” products and regular cosmetic products or use Class I medical devices to “emulate” legitimate “Medical Products Certificate” dressing products.
As early as the beginning of 2020, the National Medical Products Administration made it clear that there is no such thing as “Medical Products Certificate Mask” and began nationwide rectification of medical devices such as “Class I Medical Cold Compress Patches.” By the end of 2021, the National Medical Products Administration explicitly removed terms like “medical cold compress patches” and “cold compress gels” from the list of product names, marking the complete departure of the so-called era of “medical cold compress patches.”
In August of last year, the China National Institutes for Food and Drug Control released the “Guiding Principles for Classifying Medical Dressings (Draft for Solicitation of Comments).” It provided detailed regulations on the scope of medical dressings, classification, and management attributes, further clarifying the distinction between “Medical Products Certificate” and regular cosmetic products and explicitly stating that medical dressings should not fall below Class II.
As a result, the regulation of “Medical Products Certificate” products has become increasingly stringent. Furthermore, “Medical Products Certificate” products have become a new promotional point for brands to showcase their research and development capabilities. However, despite the influx of new entrants, Voolga, Kefumei, and others still occupy significant market positions based on actual market feedback.
According to CHAILEEDO data, among the top 10 best-selling medical dressing products on Douyin in the past 30 days, Voolga holds 3 positions, Kefumei holds 2 positions, FulQun holds 2 positions, and JUYOU, Trauer, and SHENGHEAIZHONG each hold one position. It’s worth noting that only FulQun is a brand solely focused on functional skincare.
Correspondingly, CHAILEEDO data also shows that in May of this year, Voolga, Kefumei, JUYOU, Trauer, and FulQun ranked in the top five among medical dressing brands on Douyin, making them the few brands that achieved sales exceeding one million yuan in a month. Voolga’s monthly sales have even exceeded ten million yuan, surpassing Kefumei.
Meanwhile, after Winona, the sales of other brands have plummeted, with monthly sales below 500,000 yuan, and even the 10th-ranked brand has monthly sales below 100,000 yuan.
Looking at the timeline, it is evident that Voolga, Kefumei, JUYOU, Trauer, FulQun, and other brands dominate the top five positions. Voolga has topped the list for four months in May, while Kefumei has consistently ranked in the top three. The top brand matrix remains stable, and a few brands still dominate the market, with significant differences in product sales among them.
Based on Douyin channel data alone, it remains challenging for other brands to replace the leading position of Voolga and others. In the future, the ability to recreate the “Medical Products Certificate” myth will depend not only on a brand’s research and development capabilities and product quality but also on its foresight and grasp of the future market. However, it is undeniable that as the market continues to expand, the “Medical Products Certificate” market will inevitably undergo new changes and reshuffling.
