COVID-19 Impact on Oral Care in Healthcare Industry

COVID-19 Impact on Oral Care in Healthcare Industry

OVERVIEW

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a complex challenge in front of several healthcare companies and proved to be an unprecedented global health threat. This global pandemic has emerged in December 2019 which has been proved as a global pandemic by WHO in March 2020.  With the development and introduction of novel coronavirus vaccine, COVID-19 cases have been declined but with the development of mutant coronavirus strain, the overall COVID-19 cases have been surged and are increasing at a rapid rate in India, and the U.K, and other European countries.

The most common symptoms associated with this include cough, fever, diarrhea, sore throat, and loss of smell or taste. Patients affected with COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing hepatic manifestations and also experiences damage to liver tissues.

COVID-19 has led to the closure and reduced hours of dental practices except for emergency and urgent services, limiting routine care and prevention. Dental care includes aerosol-generating procedures that can increase viral transmission. The pandemic offers an opportunity for the dental profession to shift more toward non-aerosolizing, prevention-centric approaches to care and away from surgical interventions. Direct effects of COVID-19 on oral health include ageusia (an official symptom of COVID-19) and case reports of vesiculobullous lesions and necrotizing periodontal disease.

The

oral care product has a wide portfolio such as breath Fresheners, Mouth Wash, Dental Floss, among other products. The Article here shows the impact of COVID-19 on the oral care market.

IMPACT ON PRICE

As the mouth is an important place for bacterial colonization due to which it is necessary to use the product for oral hygiene. With the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases, people's concerns for better health had also increased and the link between oral health and COVID-19 infection also expand the health to oral.  

As India relies on China for 70% of API’s intermediates and bulk ingredients, COVID -19 is expected to hike the price of the ingredient used for an oral care product

For instance,

• In the year 2021, As Proctor & Gamble announced the third-quarter result in which the net sales increase by 5 %, and also mentioned that they are planning for a price hike in certain product divisions. This step is taken seeking to recover the revenue loss during COVID-19.
• According to GlaxoSmithKline plc, the cost of dental consultation and treatment was cited as the concerning factor

Table 1:  Price Hike of Oral Care product during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Source: MDPI

This thus signifies that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased price of the oral product during the fiscal year 2019-2021.

IMPACT ON DEMAND

The coronavirus has affected the various regions of the world and caused the widespread closure of companies and local manufacturing plants. This lockdown and isolation have adversely impacted global economic activity.

As studies around the world have shown the improving oral hygiene is expected to increase the chance of generating demand for the product.

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 INFECTION ON ORAL CARE

The rising awareness of oral hygiene COVID-19 has increased the demand for a product requires for oral care as the increasing studies for SARS-COV-2 indicated that proper oral hygiene has been reported to decrease the chances of infection which increases the demand for mouth wash, oral povidone solution, novel gargle solution.

• However, due to restrictions and aims to reduce COVID-19 transmission, 30% of respondents had visited a dentist less frequently during the pandemic

The second cause of increasing demand for oral care products is that approximately 90% of the product used in oral care are over the counter which can be added as the plus point in maintaining the demand for oral care products.

The market players in oral care are also focused on the research to bring novel products to interstate commerce.

For instance,

• Microbac Laboratories, an independent and internationally accredited testing facility worked on behalf of Unilever Research Laboratories, has found that rinsing with mouthwash containing CPC Technology for 30 seconds is effective in reducing the viral load of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, by 99.9%. This type of research surge the demand for the oral product
• Colgate-Palmolive President mentioned in an interview that they have seen elevated demand for oral care related to viruses, which also boosted the innovative growth related to a premium product

This suggests that the increasing prevalence of COVID-19 poses precautionary measures due to which the global population started to take concern for their health hence enhance the demand for oral care. This thus signifies that COVID-19 is accelerating the demand of the oral care market.

IMPACT ON SUPPLY

The COVID 19 pandemic has affected and badly disrupted the global drug supply chain due to the continuous shut down of manufacturing facilities and restrictions imposed by the government over import and export activities. As per global sources, it was found that the beauty care business is still facing a crisis due to COVID-19. However, oral care market players are in a strong position. The two main leaders Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson and Johnson had seen a lift in sales in Q1 2020. Colgate-Palmoliva has net sales of USD 415 million for Q3 2020, up by 5.5% from the previous year.

The surge of demand for oral care increased during COVID-19 however, the global restriction, and state-wise travel restriction has caused challenges for the market player. Moreover, there are many local players also in the oral care market that continued to fulfill the demand in case of any disruption.

Oral care is categorized under essential need products which leads to the easy flow of these products. The main challenges during the pandemic is the supply of API’s and Ingredient or excipient used in toothpaste, as China holds the major share in API’s and other chemicals used in oral care and global restriction has somehow affected the supply chain for these products too.

This, thus signifies that due to continuous lockdown and several restrictions by government authorities the companies and patients are facing disruption of the supply chain for oral care. However, oral care is categorized under essential care which lowers the effect of supply chain disruption during COVID-19.

STRATEGIC DECISIONS OF MANUFACTURERS

Collaboration, agreements, strategic initiatives, product launches by market players such as Colgate Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever among others in the oral care market will help them to expand their product portfolio and to provide appropriate products to the consumer. This in turn will lead to increased product sales and hence will put a positive impact on the overall company’s revenue.

Oral Care product manufacturing companies are taking so many strategic decisions to cope up with the current scenario of COVID-19. The companies engaged in the manufacturing of toothpaste, mouth wash, gargle solutions among others are adopting several initiatives to accelerate the development of newer products and efficiently supply the product to different end-users.

Companies have done collaboration and product launches between 2019 -2020 which supports the sustainable growth in the oral care market

For instance,

• In September 2020, Colgate Palmolive launched as first-ever vedshakti mouth protect spray, seeking their focus on oral hygiene during COVID-19.
• Hindustan Unilever also planned to launch a mouth wash with 99 % in reducing SARS-COV-2 virus and has recently shared the preliminary data.
• In April 2020, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited (India) merged with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), with HUL responsible for the distribution of GSK’s Consumer Healthcare brands in India, including its leading oral healthcare brand, Sensodyne.
• In April 2020, Perrigo Company plc (Ireland) completed the acquisition of the oral care assets of High Ridge Brands (US), which includes Dr. Fresh, LLC.
• In December 2019, Colgate-Palmolive Company launched Colgate Optic White Renewal Tooth Paste.
• In 2020, Colgate-Palmolive comes up with a recyclable toothpaste tube which will increase the interest of the population and surge the demand for the product  leading to growth in revenue of the company

Thus, companies operating in the oral care market are adopting several strategies, including collaboration, agreements, acquisition, and market expansion to enhance their business. These strategic decisions by the companies are expected to provide significant opportunities for the market players operating in the oral care market.

CONCLUSION

As the pandemic of COVID-19 has resulted in several restrictions throughout the borders but still, manufacturers of oral care can manage their stocks. Various manufacturers have allowed their manufacturers to work in a clean and safe environment to boost up the production of oral care categorized under essential need products at various manufacturing facilities across several regions of the world helping them to maintain a continuous supply chain. However, a decrease in doctor’s visit has impacted the market but the majority of products used in oral care are over the counter product which leads to continuous demand for oral care, and by raising the prices the companies are gaining extra profit which is helping them to combat the negative effect on overall revenue.