What's New About China's 8th Volume-based Procurement (VBP) of Drugs

by Grace Wang Apr 26, 2023

On Apr. 11, 2023, China National Joint Drug Procurement Office announced the bidding result of the 8th national volume-based procurement (VBP), a bulk-purchase program launched in 2018 intended for cutting the costs of medicines prescribed in public hospitals.

1. Five Foreign Products Entered the 8th VBP

The 8th VBP covers 39 drugs (number based on generic name) with an average price cut of 56%, estimated to save 16.7 billion yuan (circa 2.41 billion USD) each year until the end of 2025 based on the planned procurement volumes.1 

Among 366 specific products (number based on generic name, specification, and manufacturer) from 251 companies that participated in the bidding, 252 products from 174 bidders won their places in the VBP program. Five bid-winning products are foreign while the other 247 products are domestic. 

China’s 8th Medical VBP: Five Bid-winning Products2 Owned by Foreign Companies

Generic Name

Dosage Form

Specification

Price

Company

Oseltamivir Phosphate for Suspension

Oral suspension

0.36g*1 bottle/box

35.11 yuan/box

Hetero Labs Limited

Mirtazapine Tablets

Tablet

15mg*2×14 tablets/box

34.46 yuan/box

Aurobindo Pharma Limited

Mirtazapine Tablets

Tablet

30mg*10 tablets/box

24.20 yuan/box

N.V. Organon (Organon Pharma (UK) Limited) (re-packaged by MSD Hangzhou)

Levocarnitine Injection

Injection

5ml:1g*5 injections/box

45.00 yuan/box

ALFASIGMA S.p.A.

Cefodizime Sodium for Injection

Injection

0.5g*10 bottles/box

41.20 yuan/box

DAEWOONG BIO INC.

Source: Sunshine Medical Procurement All-In-One

The 252 bid-winning products cover various therapeutic areas, such as anti-bacteria, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, anti-allergy, mental disorders, and chronic diseases. 

Price cuts were pretty sharp for some products.

  • The prices of seven bid-winning products of Oseltamivir Phosphate for Suspension, a therapeutic drug for Influenza A, were lowered by 83% on average.

  • Four products of high blood pressure drug Amlodipine Besilate and Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets experienced an average price cut of 48%.

  • Five products of Atosiban Acetate Injection for delaying preterm birth were priced at 240 yuan/injection on average, with an average price reduction rate of 80%.

2. What’s New About the 8th VBP

Since 2018, China has organized eight national VBPs, which covers 333 drugs in total, whose average price cuts were over 50%. VBP, as well as its most gripping feature—price cuts, seems to be nothing new for the industry. However, the 8th VBP manifests fairly new key points that China stresses.

China’s Medical VBPs

VBP

Bidding Result Released

Procurement Started or Planned to be Started

Pilot in 4+7 cities

17/12/2018

03/2019

Pilot nationwide (1st)

30/09/2019

12/2019

2nd

21/01/2020

05/2020

3rd

24/08/2020

11/2020

4th

08/02/2021

05/2021

5th

28/06/2021

10/2021

6th (exclusive for insulins)

30/11/2021

In the first three months of 2022

7th

18/07/2022

11/2020

8th

11/04/2023

07/2023

Source: Sunshine Medical Procurement All-In-One

2.1 Price not foremost, quality matters

Though price cuts are eye-catching once the bidding results were rolled out, China seems not to want to squash all the profit room for pharmaceutical companies. The paramount thing for VBP is to make sure drugs, stripped away from deals in the grey area, are delivered to public hospitals with sufficient quantity and good quality. 

To ensure drug quality, China has delisted some previous bid-winning enterprises from the VBP supplier list. For example, on Oct. 31, 2022, China’s national procurement office announced that GlaxoSmithKline (Ireland) Limited, a bid winner in the 5th VBP, was suspended from supplying dutasteride. The company was found with failure to comply with GMP regulations in an inspection. What’s more, the company was moved into a black list that bans it to bid for VBP for one and half a year, i.e., from the day of announcement to Apr. 29, 2024.

Quality assurance is not exactly a new topic, but China drug regulators certainly will continue pay no less attention to quality. It’s impossible for China to compromise quality for low prices.

2.2 Ensuring stable supply

It’s noteworthy that the national procurement office arranges back-up supplier companies for each product in the 8th VBP to ensure stable supply. Though the procurement office asks bidders to submit information about their production capacities, which means the production capacities are evaluated, situations may still happen that prevent the companies to successfully deliver their products. That’s when the back-up suppliers come in. In the future VBP biddings, reliable and stable production capacity are also expected to stand out as a significant edge.

3. Should Companies Strive for VBP?

As winning the bid for VBP means substantial sales volumes, should pharmaceutical companies compete for the bid? There is no fixed answer for the question. 

For one thing, not all products are eligible for bidding for VBP. Generally, only companies with approved original drugs, reference listed drugs (RLDs), or generic drugs that have passed the equivalence evaluation can apply for the bidding. Besides, the product has to be on the drug list3 issued by China’s procurement office prior to VBP bidding.

For another, companies are different in market share, production capacity, and supply chain stability. Unpredicted situations, e.g., lockdown due to an epidemic outbreak, can also impact companies’ manufacturing and shipping capabilities to meet the supply requirements in VBP. 

Hence, it’s really each company’s own decision to make on whether to bid for VBP. But BaiPharm can offer advice customized to our clients. Contact BaiPharm if you’d like to know more about drug regulatory affairs in China.

Related

Grace Wang
ChemLinked Regulatory Analyst & Editor
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