New system cuts medicine prices by 30% in Hainan province

Prices of more than 680 drugs have been slashed by an average of 30 percent based on an innovative mechanism introduced in South China's Hainan province, according to the provincial healthcare security authorities.

The new procurement system would play a role in guiding pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of drugs, and effectively curb the purchase of high priced drugs by local medical institutions. More importantly, it will help reduce the burden of high cost of medicine on the people, said the authorities.

The latest results displayed on the Hainan pharmaceutical procurement platform show that prices of all the 689 kinds of drugs online have been cut, with the average decrease reaching by 30.91 percent and the maximum decrease of some medicines cut by 96.8 percent. Unit price of some anti-cancer drugs saw a sharp drop by more than 10,000 yuan ($1,548), said officials.

To upgrade the administration of pharmaceutical bidding, purchase and price monitoring, the Hainan provincial healthcare security bureau jointly introduced with the provincial government affairs service center the new model and interim measures last September, to guide and supervise pricing for pharmaceutical bidding and purchase in Hainan.

The new monitoring mechanism has been regarded as an innovative practice in China.

It also serves as an early warning for companies offering high-cost medicines and helps assess the performance of pharmaceutical and medical companies in their pricing policies.