ArticleBMC health services research2025
Impact of six rounds of national drug price negotiation on availability, cost, use, and prices of targeted drugs in China.
Article in BMC health services research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dynamic evaluation and continuous improvement model of pharmaceutical administration based on DPSIR-TOPSIS.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Access in all areas? A round-up of developments in market access and health technology assessment: part 12.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of combined immunotherapy regimens for non-squamous non-small lung cancer after tyrosine kinase inhibitors resistance.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Characteristics, accessibility and regional equity evaluation of pediatric medicines through National Drug Price Negotiation of China, 2017-2024.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Impact of China's national drug price negotiation on pharmaceutical firms' innovation activities.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Current status of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment capacity in county-level medical institutions in Sichuan Province, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveChina has formulated the National Drug Price Negotiation ("Policy") to promote the availability and use of innovative medicine for alleviating the financial burden on patients. As of 2024, China has conducted nine rounds of negotiations. This study is a comprehensive nationwide evaluation to assess the impact of the six rounds that took place between 2016 and 2021 on the availability, cost, use, and price of negotiated drugs in the hospital setting in China.
methodsData on negotiated drugs, spanning the years 2015-2022, were obtained from the China Medicine Economic Information (CMEI) database. Our dataset included information from 698 hospitals and 155 negotiated drugs. T-tests and interrupted time series analysis were performed to evaluate the impact on the targeted medicines.
findingsThe Policy significantly increased the use and availability rate of the negotiated drugs. After inclusion in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), the average defined daily doses (DDDs) of drugs in each of the six negotiation rounds were 3-12 times higher than before, and their availability was 1.5-4.5 times higher. The Policy had significant immediate effects on defined daily dose cost (DDDc) and prices across all negotiation rounds, with average DDDc decreasing by up to 77.8% and price indices by as much as 51.7%. The Policy's effects varied across negotiation rounds, with stronger immediate impacts on all four outcome measures for drugs negotiated after 2018. However, the rate of decline in both price indices and DDDc slowed over time.
conclusionsEvidence supports the claim that the Policy achieved its desired objectives, although there is a valid case for increasing the availability of medicines and establishing availability assessment criteria for innovative drugs. We recommend that the government be more sensitive to abnormal changes in drug prices and patient costs after the end of the negotiated agreement period.
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