Improved evaluations could lower drug prices

China will advance its quality evaluation system designed for generic drugs as part of healthcare reform that seeks to reduce financial burdens of patients and improve drug quality, health officials and drug regulators said on Wednesday.

Since the country launched the generic consistency evaluation system in 2016 - which requires that pharmaceutical companies ensure that the quality and efficacy of their generic products are on par with brand-name or reference drugs - a total of 184 types of generic drugs have gained approval, according to Chen Shifei, deputy head of the National Medical Products Administration.

The administration has released a series of guidelines and formed separate approval pathways to facilitate and accelerate work on consistency evaluation. The operation of the system has entered "a period of smooth development" thanks to these efforts, Chen said at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.