A new period of falling drug prices is approaching. The Chinese government has officially launched a series of policies on this issue recently so as to alleviate the lag in supply and availability and the high cost of new domestic drugs. It is expected to be able to offer citizens cheaper drugs as soon as possible.

The State Council executive meeting held on June 20 confirmed that three aspects will be the focal points, which are - accelerating the permission on new foreign drugs into the market, strengthening the supply of drugs in shortage, and lowering the price of anticancer drugs.

According to the data provided by Xinhua’s Economic Information Daily, there are more than 3,800 overseas drugs listed and approved in China, including over 3,499 chemical drugs, more than 300 biological products, and around 70 traditional Chinese medicines. These include anti-cancer, anti-virus, and antihypertension drugs and satisfy the fundamental needs in main medical areas.

At the same time, measures are soon to be implemented to coordinate the reform at the local level. Taking the supply of drugs in shortage for example, Guizhou province, located in the South West of China, lists 23 types of drugs in shortage, which are to be produced in a fixed location for the sake of urgent production and importation. Liaoning, a province in north-eastern China, is to set up a mechanism to stabilize the stock of drugs currently in shortage, meanwhile, government officials have been reminded of attaching much more importance on supervision and accountability.

However, some insiders worry that domestic pharmaceutical companies are likely to face enormous challenges as the process of innovative drugs importation accelerates.

China is still in a pharmaceutical market pattern in which generic drugs dominate. According to previous data from the General Administration of the Food and Drug Administration, the total number of drug approvals in China has reached 189,000, in which over 95% are generic drugs.

Given that the research and development on new drugs can be time-consuming, expensive and high-risk, generic drugs are much preferred. The Chinese government values drugs innovation as well, however, and keeps placing emphasis on developing generic drugs of high quality, which can save more than ten billion yuan every year and possibly lead to further price falls.

It is said that a package of supporting policies will be put forward in the future, such as accelerating the process of listing new overseas drugs, stimulating drugs innovation and improving the access mechanism for medical insurance.

“Nowadays the nation is paying unprecedented attention on advancing the quality of generic drugs and hopes to accelerate the leap from a large drugs-consuming country to a pharmaceutical powerhouse,” said Guo Yunpei, the president of China Pharmaceutical Enterprise Management Association.