According to data from Yaozhi, from 2016 to the first three quarters of 2025, flurbiprofen gel patch (by product category) ranked among the top-selling topical preparations in domestic public medical institutions, with a cumulative sales volume of 17.859 billion yuan , becoming the " top seller " in the field of topical preparations for nearly ten years , and the only product with a cumulative sales volume exceeding 10 billion yuan.

Note: The scope of topical preparations in this statistic covers all chemical drugs and traditional Chinese medicines approved in the Chinese market; the statistical scope is based on the product category, not the brand dimension.

01

The Growth Secret of Top Sales Performers

Flurbiprofen gel patch is a prescription topical analgesic drug. Its active ingredient is flurbiprofen, which belongs to the nonsteroidal antipyretic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory class of drugs. It exerts its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic effects by inhibiting cyclooxygenase activity and reducing prostaglandin synthesis.

The original manufacturer of this product is Mikasa Pharmaceutical of Japan. In 2010, Tide Pharmaceutical introduced flurbiprofen gel patches (40mg/patch) to the Chinese market using a "original import + domestic subcontracting" model, making it the first chemical drug gel patch approved for marketing in China. In 2011, Tide Pharmaceutical's independently developed generic version of flurbiprofen gel patches (trade name: Debai'an) was successfully launched and quickly captured a significant share of the domestic market.

According to data from Yaozhi, in domestic public medical institutions, the cumulative sales of flurbiprofen gel patches reached RMB 17.859 billion (by product type) from 2016 to the first three quarters of 2025, making it the top-selling topical preparation in the past decade and the only topical preparation product with cumulative sales exceeding RMB 10 billion.

Looking at the annual sales trend, the sales of flurbiprofen gel patches reached 460 million yuan in 2016, which was at a medium level in the domestic and international pharmaceutical market at that time, with a significant gap compared to leading products. Starting in 2018, the product entered a period of rapid growth, with sales climbing to 985 million yuan that year. In 2023, it successfully broke through the 3 billion yuan mark . In the first three quarters of 2025, its sales reached 2.502 billion yuan, and according to Yaozhi Data, the annual sales are expected to exceed 3.1 billion yuan.

The gel patch market has high technological barriers, and the number of products approved for market launch in China is not large. Many companies' gel patch market applications have failed, resulting in some products in this segment being exclusively supplied by a single supplier for a long time.

Regarding generic drug production, besides the original drugs, a few domestic pharmaceutical companies, including Wuhan Pharmastar Pharmaceutical, Leming Pharmaceutical, and Beijing Taide Pharmaceutical, have obtained production licenses for flurbiprofen gel patches. According to the latest data released by the National Medical Products Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation, as of now in 2026, three companies, including China Resources Sanjiu and Sunflower Pharmaceutical, have had their applications for flurbiprofen gel patches accepted.

The reason why flurbiprofen gel patches can stand out in the fierce market competition is inseparable from their unique product characteristics and clinical value.

This product uses a gel patch formulation , which features good skin penetration, stable drug release, rapid onset of action, and long-lasting effect. A single application can maintain the efficacy for 12 hours, reducing the frequency of medication use. At the same time, the patch is soft, breathable, and has low skin irritation, making it highly comfortable for patients.

As a topical preparation, flurbiprofen gel patches exert their effects through local skin absorption . The drug bypasses the gastrointestinal tract and liver first-pass effect, greatly reducing the risk of gastrointestinal adverse reactions (such as stomach pain, nausea, and gastric ulcers) and liver and kidney damage that are common with oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It is especially suitable for long-term use by special populations such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases.

With an aging population, an increasing number of patients with chronic pain, and rising demands for medication safety, the market demand for flurbiprofen gel patches continues to grow. This product is suitable for both clinical treatment in hospitals and home self-treatment, resulting in a broad market reach.

02

Market structure of the top 10 varieties

According to data from Yaozhi, from 2016 to the first three quarters of 2025, the cumulative sales of the top 10 topical preparations in domestic public medical institutions reached 81.767 billion yuan . Among them, the sales of the top three products totaled 37.408 billion yuan, accounting for 46% of the total sales of the top ten , showing a high degree of market concentration.

Among them, the second-ranked pain relief patch had a cumulative sales volume of 9.807 billion yuan, and the third-ranked Yunnan Baiyao plaster had 9.742 billion yuan. The market share of the first-ranked flurbiprofen gel patch (21.8%) was much higher than that of the second-ranked pain relief patch (12%) and the third-ranked Yunnan Baiyao plaster (11.9%).

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory products are the category with the most varieties in the TOP10, including flurbiprofen gel patches, pain relief patches, Yunnan Baiyao plaster, blood circulation and pain relief plaster, and meridian-clearing and pain-relieving plaster, with a total sales volume of 50.291 billion yuan, accounting for 61.5% of the total sales volume of the TOP10.

This product category is mainly used to treat chronic pain and acute injury pain such as osteoarthritis, muscle pain, and joint pain , and the market demand is strong. In terms of product type, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs include both chemical drugs (such as flurbiprofen gel patches) and traditional Chinese medicines (such as pain-relieving plasters and Yunnan Baiyao plasters), forming a competitive landscape that combines traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Specialty-specific drugs, due to their inelastic clinical demand, have shown more stable overall performance. Sodium hyaluronate eye drops are the only topical ophthalmic drug in the top 10 , with cumulative sales of 7.266 billion yuan over ten years. Progesterone vaginal sustained-release gel, a gynecological assisted reproductive drug , has accumulated sales of 6.024 billion yuan. Kaihoujian spray, a commonly used pediatric drug , has benefited from the growth of the pediatric drug market, with cumulative sales reaching 5.698 billion yuan.

External injury treatment preparations , such as Yunnan Baiyao aerosol , have achieved cumulative sales of 6.752 billion yuan. This product is mainly used for sprains, bruises, swelling, muscle aches, and rheumatic pain, and is widely used in sports injuries and everyday trauma treatment.

In terms of drug categories, among the top 10 products, traditional Chinese medicines such as Yunnan Baiyao plaster had a total sales volume of 3.469 billion yuan in 2016, accounting for 70.1% of the market; the market share will drop to 34.1% in the first three quarters of 2025 .

In 2016, the total sales of chemical drugs reached 1.454 billion yuan, accounting for 29.5% of the market . By the first three quarters of 2025, this market share is projected to rise to 65.9% . Novel dosage forms such as gel patches and sustained-release gels contributed the main incremental growth. In the future, with the development of transdermal absorption technology and targeted drug delivery technology, the market share of topical chemical drug preparations is expected to further increase .

https://news.yaozh.com/archive/47131.html