Publicize price of hepatitis B drugs, patients demand

Eight hepatitis B patients have asked the country's price regulator to reconsider a decision not to make public the costs of two drugs produced by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, as they called for the drugmaker to further reduce the prices.

The patients, all from the hepatitis B carrier rights group Yiyougongyi, said in the group's micro blog that the decision by the National Development and Reform Commission not to publish the costs of two drugs produced by GlaxoSmithKline could harm the interests of patients, adding that they would appeal the decision and request administrative reconsideration from the authority.

The group has long campaigned for the price reduction of hepatitis B drugs, saying that the alleged violations by GSK China, including bribery, have resulted in the price of the drugs being higher than market prices.