Bayer’s diabetes drug acarbose had its price slashed by 80 per cent..In a new feature, the government has this time added a price ceiling for each drug. The price caps were as much as 95 per cent below current prices in China, according to estimates by ICBC International.
In some aspects, China has softened the rules of the exercise. As many as six firms could be chosen to supply 80 per cent of the national demand for the drug under bidding, up from three in the last round.
The pharmaceutical sector is reeling: Chinese drug makers issued a flood of profit warnings last year, while their global counterparts such as AstraZeneca and Sanofi cited the procurement plan as a damper for earnings.
Foreign pharmaceutical giants are pivoting toward innovative treatments to make up for the tumbling sales of their off-patent drugs after local rivals undercut them on pricing.
“The game is over for foreign pharmaceuticals looking to make money from drugs with expired patents