Chinese government to lift drug price controls
pharmafile | May 5, 2015 | News story | Sales and Marketing | China, Drug pricing, GSK, IMS, Xarelto, government
The Chinese government has announced that it will remove price caps for most medicines and allow the market to play a bigger role in determining costs.
Previously the government has set the maximum price for drugs in the country, but it is now hoping that market competition will keep prices ‘reasonable’ while it takes a more supervisory role to monitor prices and punish unlawful behaviour.
“We have decided from 1 June to cancel government-set prices on most medicines to improve purchasing mechanisms for drugs, control costs for medical insurance and allow the trade price of treatments to be set by market competition,” the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says in a statement.
It adds: “Public health departments must boost supervision on medical institutions and check improper medicine and medical equipment use.”
It follows a trend of China relaxing price controls in many areas, including telecom services, tobacco and electricity.
High drug prices have long been an area of concern for Chinese citizens, and the government has been cracking down on cases of bribery that have racked them up – encapsulated by the GSK scandal in the country.
The new reforms could help encourage the more pharma firms to commit to the Chinese market in the wake of regulatory crackdowns on foreign pharma such as this, as well as an economic slowdown and growing local competition.
China is one of the world’s fastest-growing pharma markets, with a growth rate of 16.7% forecast between 2012 and 2017 by IMS health.
The government has said that anaesthetics and grade one psychiatric medications will still be subject to price caps.
Xarelto approved in China
Meanwhile, Bayer’s Xarelto (rivaroxaban) has been approved in the country for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation.
It has been available in China since 2009 for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing elective hip or knee replacement surgery.
“This approval is the result of many years of research and a robust development programme,” said Dr Joerg Moeller, head of global development at Bayer HealthCare. “We are delighted to bring the benefits of Xarelto to patients and physicians in China in need of an effective and convenient therapy against blood clots to prevent strokes and treat DVT.”
The drug was recently approved in the UK by NICE in combination with clopidogrel and aspirin – or with aspirin alone – as an option for preventing blood clots in people who have had a heart attack.
George Underwood
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