China Adds 111 Drugs to 2022 National Reimbursement Drug List
2023-01-20
On Jan. 18, 2023, China’s National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the 2022 National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), a list of drugs fully or partially reimbursed by the national basic health insurance.
After bidding or price negotiation between NHSA and pharmaceutical companies, 111 drugs entered the 2022 NRDL and 3 drugs were delisted. The average price cut reached 60.1%.1
Among the newly added drugs, 56 are for chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, psychoactive disease, etc.), 23 for tumor, 17 for anti-infection, and 7 for rare diseases.
The adjusted NRDL now covers 2,967 drugs, including 1,586 western (chemical/biological) drugs and 1,381 Chinese patent medicines.
Two COVID-19 Drugs Enter the List
As China recently experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, antiviral drugs for COVID-19 treatment were a focus in the price negotiation.
Pfizer’s Paxlovid with high public attention did not enter NRDL, because the quote was too high, according to NHSA in an announcement on Jan. 8, 2023. Paxlovid currently costs 1,890 yuan (about 278 USD) for one course.2 Now the drug is temporarily covered by basic health insurance until the end of March this year.
Chemlinked, 20-01-22
; https://baipharm.chemlinked.com/news/china-adds-111-drugs-to-2022-national-reimbursement-drug-list