China to expand drug-buying plan to more cities

Bloomberg

China is pushing ahead with a campaign to slash generic drug prices that has wiped out $46 billion in value from pharmaceutical companies since it was launched earlier this month.
The government will expand a central procurement programme to more regions and more drugs, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said at a meeting of the National People’s Congress standing committee, according to China Business News. The initiative was first launched on December 6 with 11 major cities and 31 drugs.
The pilot drove prices down for medications from cholesterol to cancer treatments by an average of about 52 percent, and in some cases by more than 90 percent, as drugmakers competed against one another to win the tenders that would supply all public hospitals in those cities.