BEIJING: China will add 91 drugs to its national medical reimbursement list next year, including a record 38 innovative drugs amid a national push to spur drug innovation, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Thursday.
The latest update includes 26 cancer drugs, 15 treatments for diabetes and other chronic diseases, 13 for rare diseases, seven anti-infection medicines and four psychiatric drugs.
Meanwhile, 43 drugs that have been replaced by more advanced medicines or that have not been produced for a long time will be removed from the list.
The latest move has put the total number of medicines on the list to 3,159 — 1,765 Western drugs and 1,394 traditional Chinese medicines. The new list will take effect on Jan 1 and is expected to save patients more than 50 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) next year, the administration said. A highlight of this year’s updated list is that 90 of the 91 new additions are drugs that gained market approval within the past five years, and 38 of those are considered novel drugs worldwide.
“The sheer number of innovative drugs and their proportion among newly added drugs have both reached a record high,” said Huang Xinyu, head of the administration’s medical services management department.
The adjustment of the list was largely made possible through price negotiations and bidding with drug manufacturers who agreed to cut prices. -The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
