China officially permits Shenzhen to pilot the online sales of prescription drugs, according to the market-access-relaxing measures released by National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on Jan. 26.1
Following the Hainan Free Trade Port, Shenzhen becomes the second place allowed to sell prescription drugs online.
Before the pilot programs in Hainan and Shenzhen, no regulations in China have unequivocally allowed the online trade of prescription drugs.
However, some provincial governments and third-party e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and JD.com have had a try amid the trend of internet-based diagnosis and treatment in recent years. The online sales of prescription drugs, as an unauthorized activity, has received continuous objections due to public concerns about drug abuse.
Therefore, to ensure safety, the pilot measures for Shenzhen only allow prescription drugs to be sold to patients who have the corresponding prescriptions. The prescriptions should come from the Shenzhen Electronic Prescription Center to show that they are reliable and formulated by eligible doctors/pharmacists.
The measures also stipulate that drugs subject to special administration by the authority, such as vaccines, blood products, narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive drugs, and pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, shall not be sold online.2
Online purchase will also be reimbursed or covered by national and commercial insurance as the Shenzhen Electronic Prescription Center will be connected to the national basic medical care insurance system and commercial insurance companies.
The measures would bring some benefits:
The overloaded public hospitals can be relieved from the burden of dispensing drugs to patients, especially those with chronic diseases that need long-term use of prescription drugs.
Patients can buy prescription drugs more easily.
Drug makers and suppliers can expand their sales channels to e-commerce platforms.
Third-party e-commerce platforms may boost their internet business with more online drug stores.
Meanwhile, online sales also pose regulatory challenges. China has been making efforts to improve relevant regulations. In the 2020 consultation draft of Administrative Measures for Supervising Online Sales of Drugs, online drug retailers are required to ensure that electronic prescriptions involved in purchase are authentic and come from reliable sources.3
The 2020 draft also requires online drug sellers to fulfill a series of obligations, such as
ensuring traceable and verifiable information of the whole drug selling process,
guaranteeing quality and safety in the drug delivery service, and
monitoring and reporting the adverse drug reactions (ADR).
Though the rules have not come into force, it is foreseeable that China will remain cautious about the risks of selling prescription drugs online. The trial in Shenzhen is an exploration for policy makers. If the regional practice turns out to be successful, there will be more possibilities for opening the online prescription drug markets in a larger area.
