China Medical News

China has updated its list of medicines covered by national medical insurance, adding some new drugs with a focus on pediatrics and major illnesses such as cancer, hepatitis, and renal and cardiovascular diseases.

China has a national medical insurance program, and the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) names all the drugs covered by the insurance program, some in full (type A drugs) and others partially (type B). Patients must pay the full price out of pocket for those drugs outside the list, which means a huge financial burden, especially when new but more effective drugs are not covered.

The update, the first since late 2009, saw the list grow by 15% to 2,535, among which 1,297 are Western-style meds, an 11% increase. The additions include some blockbuster meds like tenofovir, an antiviral drug to treat hepatitis B and HIV, and marketed by GSK as Viread, cancer drug gefitinib, sold under the brand name Iressa by AstraZeneca, and China’s own non-small cell lung cancer med icotinib (Conmana).

The drug prices of these three products were largely reduced last year as part of a negotiation with the ministry, and for example, GSK cut Viread’s price in China by two-thirds last year, a move that obviously helped it earn a place in the updated drug list. In an interview by Reuters, a GSK spokesman said. "We have already seen a major increase in the uptake of our Hep B medicine (Viread) since reducing its price by 67% last year and inclusion in the NDRL will drive further access around the country."

Provincial-level governments are now requested to make their own lists by the end of July of this year. They can tweak a bit of the national list’s type B drugs based on local medical needs, meaning they can add or delete a few and detail their own coverage rates for each drug. (Source: FiercePharma and Reuters)