China’s First Cross-Provincial Drug Procurement Alliance Scores Average Price Reductions of 55.03%

CHONGQING, China – China’s first cross-provincial mass procurement alliance, formed by the provinces of Chongqing, Henan, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang, along with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, has purchased more than 30 drugs, at an average savings of 55.03% across the board, reported Xinhua.

The Alliance partook in “comprehensive market bidding review and bargaining” considering clinical use data, product share, and profit margins, to procure medicines affected by few substitutes on the market, production issues, unstable supply, and abnormal price fluctuations, as well as widely used drugs with a high purchase amount.

A total of 31 varieties and 35 product specifications were up for grabs during this procurement, covering therapeutic areas such as antimicrobial, antitumor, analgesia, digestive system, and cardiovascular system, among others.

The savings were, on average, 55.03%, with the highest reduction reaching 99.40%. Reportedly, patients will be saving 54.56 yuan per bottle of diprophylline for asthma. The 8 provinces expect to save 1.058 billion yuan a year, with Yunnan Province forecasting to save 170 million yuan a year.

The procurement aimed to tackle national and local shortages and tighten the supply of drugs and resulted in “stabilizing market expectations, stable price levels, and stable clinical use.” Further, through the procurement, the Alliance sought to encourage manufacturers to resume production of high-quality and affordable products and is making sure medical institutions use the medicines purchased this way.