BioCentury
ARTICLE | Regulation

Drug price changes loom in China

How China's pricing policy poses quandaries for multinational drugs

December 22, 2014 8:00 AM UTC

Already facing a long runway to get innovative drugs on the market in China, multinational pharma companies will see their "independent pricing" power removed on mature drugs under sweeping reforms the government is expected to implement in January.

In a nutshell, reimbursement would be fixed by class of drug. While the concept may seem obvious under Western models, the stakes are high for multinational companies (MNCs) in China, where roughly 70-80% of their sales come from off-patent "mature" drugs that enjoy premium pricing compared to domestic generics. ...