Chinese officials sanction end to drug price ceilings

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told China's 12th National People's Congress in Beijing that the central government would stop setting maximum retail prices for most pharmaceuticals and delegate more power to provincial governments.

Li's statement is in line with a draft pricing plan released in November by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning agency under the State Council. The draft plan calls for scrapping price controls in favor of standard reimbursement amounts for each molecule and formulation, regardless of whether it is a local generic or a multinational off-patent drug. While companies could charge above reimbursed amounts, patients would pay the difference out of pocket (see BioCentury, Dec. 22, 2014). ...