By Fineline Cube 
The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) held a press conference today on the “High-Quality Completion of the ’14th Five-Year Plan’ Series,” announcing significant reforms to its centralized drug procurement (CDP) policies. These reforms aim to move beyond price as the sole determinant of winning bids, establish a national online drug price list, and introduce pharmacy price comparison tools to enhance transparency and affordability.
Key Reforms
- Beyond Lowest Price: Winning bids in centralized procurement will no longer be solely determined by the lowest price. Companies submitting the lowest bids will be required to publicly justify the rationality of their pricing.
- National Drug Price List: The NHSA is developing a national online drug price list to encourage regions to rectify unreasonably high listed prices.
- Pharmacy Price Comparison Tools: Guidance has been provided to 31 provinces nationwide to launch price comparison mini-programs for designated pharmacies, making it easier for the public to choose affordably priced pharmacies.
Recent Procurement Activity
The eleventh round of centralized procurement has commenced. In line with the optimized CDP measures approved by the State Council executive meeting, the NHSA is adhering to principles of “stabilizing clinical use, ensuring quality, preventing bid rigging, and combating ‘involution’ (detrimental internal competition).” Specific procurement rules have been refined, including allowing medical institutions to specify their preferred brands in volume declarations.
Drug Price Governance
Building on comprehensive improvements in drug data quality, the NHSA has initiated a “four-same” drug price governance effort targeting drugs with identical generic names, manufacturers, dosage forms, and specifications. This has led to the standardization of prices for over 27,000 drug specifications. For drugs with abnormal prices identified through routine monitoring, inter-departmental referrals, and strong public feedback, the NHSA has implemented measures such as price verification, price talks, public inquiries, and credit evaluations. These actions aim to urge companies to standardize pricing practices, reduce excessive markups in circulation, and lower inflated prices. To date, eight batches of drug price risk disposals have been advanced, prompting 566 companies to adjust prices for 726 drug specifications.