China launches global drug price registration system

China on Tuesday launched a medicine price registration system, providing price registration and inquiry services for global pharmaceutical companies both online and offline.

This means that Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises will have a "price pass" when going global, as the platform https://chinamedreg.com.cn offers an authoritative, standard and transparent price authentication that is recognized globally.

According to the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), companies can apply to register drug prices on the system independently, in line with their needs, and they take responsibility for price authenticity. The system operator will not intervene in price levels when handling applications.

After that, holders of the license approving drugs to enter the market can obtain multilingual query certificates for registered prices, which serve as valid proof of price registration.

Observers say the system is expected to deal with the lack of reference prices in the Chinese market -- a long-standing problem for Chinese new medicines entering international markets.

Chinese pharmaceutical firms have long depended on a single-price system to expand into international markets. However, with an increasing number of companies going global, this system has become outdated and cannot help firms set competitive prices overseas.

"We are often required to provide the market price set in countries that have approved our products as a reference, entailing an urgent need to resolve the lack of price authentication," said Fan Lin, vice president of JW Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Shanghai.

The reference value of terminal prices in the Chinese market is becoming increasingly prominent. Data from the NHSA shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Chinese pharmaceutical companies conducted more than 103 authorized transactions overseas, with the total transaction amount exceeding 92 billion U.S. dollars.

In this sense, a valid "price pass" will provide critical pricing support for enterprises expanding into international markets.

The move will also attract more premium international drugs to the Chinese market, observers say.

The first batch of price registrations has been completed for nine pharmaceutical companies from both home and abroad, including Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche.

The launch of the drug price registration system is part of China's efforts to support the development of new drugs, with tangible outcomes already being achieved.

Among the 91 medications included in China's national medical insurance scheme in 2024, 33 were approved and included within the same year, benefiting more people. It now takes just approximately one year for a new drug to be licensed and added to the national medical insurance program, according to the NHSA.