70 out of 119 new drugs in China get price cut of 60.7%

27 contract renewal drugs received a 26.5% average price cut.

Latest results from China’s national reimbursement drug list (NRDL) have revealed that for the 119 new drugs that entered into price negotiations, more than half, or 70 succeeded with an average price cut of 60.7%. Whilst out of the 31 contract renewal drugs entered into the list, 27 succeeded with an average price cut of 26.5%, said a report by banking firm Jeffries.

Looking back over the history of NRDL price negotiations, Jeffries notes that the level of price cut for the round is still in line with the price cut level of previous rounds and is still within market expectations. 2017 saw an average price cut of 44% for 44 drugs, whilst average price cut for 2018 was 56.7% for 17 oncology drugs, both close to this year’s 60.7%.

With PD-1 inhibitors for cancer treatment on the other hand, only the drug Tyvyt from Innovent was accepted for the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma. The other three drugs who joined the negotiations were Keytruda from Merck, Opdivo from BMS, and Junsh’s Tuoyi.

The listed price cut for Tyvyt is 64% and annual treatment cost cut is around 40% to Rmb100k level. With this price cut, Jeffries sees Innovent speed up the growth of Tyvyt in off label usage of major indications like non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).