Multinational drugmakers make big price cuts to be covered in China list

Multinationals pharmaceutical companies have cut prices significantly for some of the bestselling drugs in China to get covered by China’s newly-updated reimbursement drug list, effective on January 1 ,2020, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent, Wang Fangqing.

According to the Chinese National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), the new list covers 2,705 drugs, 64 more than the previous 2017 list. The 2019 list includes 22 cancer treatments, seven rare disease drugs and 14 for chronic diseases like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. 70 drugs were new to the list, with an average price cut at 60.7%.

Significant price cuts were seen among cancer drugs. For example, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) cut the price of Humira (adalimumab) to 1,290 renminbi ($183.7) per unit (40mg/0.4ml), compared to the average retail price around 3,160 renminbi. AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) diabetes drug Farxiga (dapagliflozin) is priced at 4.36 renminbi per tablet (10mg) in the list, down 69% from the retail price 14.3 renminbi.