Chinese health regulators are delving into allegations of irregular pricing practices during the national volume-based procurement (VBP) tenders for several pharmaceutical products. A joint statement issued by the National Drug Alliance Procurement Office and the Shanghai Pharmaceutical Centralized Bidding Procurement Management Office cited public complaints regarding the bidding and pricing mechanisms for bromhexine, octreotide, piperacillin plus tazobactam, and glycerol fructose. According to the reports, the Drug Alliance Procurement Office has conducted interviews with all bidding companies for these four products between April 18 and 19.
To date, nine VBP rounds have been conducted successfully, with bromhexine and octreotide featuring in the 7th round, piperacillin plus tazobactam in the 8th, and glycerol fructose in the 9th round.
In a related development, Zhang Ming, the head of the price procurement expert group at the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) and a key figure in the centralized procurement system’s evolution, has reportedly been placed under investigation. Zhang, who was previously in charge of both the National Drug Alliance Procurement Office and the Shanghai Pharmaceutical Centralized Bidding Procurement Management Office, joined the NHSA’s price procurement expert group in 2020. His role involved advising on significant policy and practical issues related to centralized procurement, conducting research, providing technical guidance, and evaluating policies.- Flcube.com
