Second round of group buying sees drug prices drop by half

With the second round of the national centralized drug-procurement program taking effect in Jiangsu this year, the prices of 12 drugs involved in the treatment of infections, venous thrombosis, intracranial edema, cerebrovascular circulation disorders and other diseases have dropped by half on average.

12 varieties of drugs were listed in the centralized drug-procurement program and 41 specific products from 36 pharmaceutical companies were shortlisted. The bidding group saw the largest drop of 90%, averaging a drop of 49%. The negotiating group saw the largest drop of 33%, dropping by 20% on the average. centralized drug-procurement program is expected to save 650 million yuan of procurement funds a year.The centralized procurement system, which was launched i 2019, was designed in part to help reduce costs to public health facilities. Medicines selected through the centralized drug-procurement program will be much cheaper than normal, on average, for those public health facilities that purchase them, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration.