Decreased commitment to production/sales/new generics

Ministry of Health and Welfare, full-fledged public-private consultative body for first in class and generics

Prospects for policy announcements in the first half of the year

"Financial expenses for health insurance drugs are calculated by multiplying volume and price.

 

The government has been engrossed in finding reasons for reducing drug prices and establishing policies for decades while neglecting efforts to reduce usage." "(To the government), it seems that the price adjustment of generic drugs is always recognized as the easiest and easiest way.

 

For pharmaceutical companies that are constantly striving to create new drugs, generics are the driving force.

 

Only pharmaceutical companies that do not directly produce drugs or do research and development Please consider the hard way to regulate tweezers." Domestic pharmaceutical companies are becoming more concerned as the Ministry of Health and Welfare is preparing a policy for preferential drug prices for innovative pharmaceutical companies and moving to reduce the price of generic drugs at the same time.

 

It is a reality that generic drugs are already cut as soon as they are cut and it is difficult to go down further, and they are playing a role as a cash generator for pharmaceutical companies that are keen on R&D.

 

Appeals from pharmaceutical companies come out.

 

In particular, as the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo is personally leading the policy for this move to adjust generic drug prices, there are even burdensome observations that the price-cutting policy equivalent to the past batch drug price cuts and cascading drug price systems will be triggered.

 

According to pharmaceutical industry sources on the 9th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is in the midst of preparing and announcing a policy for price adjustment of generic drugs as well as a policy for giving preferential prices to medicines and essential medicines made by innovative pharmaceutical companies in the near future.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has held five public-private consultative body meetings since last February to reflect the appropriate value of innovative new drugs, which were completed last month.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is expected to disclose a policy proposal based on the results of the council meeting at the end of April at the earliest and begin collecting opinions from the pharmaceutical industry.

 

In addition, the public-private consultative body to prepare measures to adjust or lower generic drug prices is expected to quickly begin seeking specific policies from this month, starting with a kick-off meeting at the end of last month, right after the innovative new drug consultative body meeting.

 

The domestic pharmaceutical industry sees this move by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as a full-fledged commitment to the 'trade-off' drug price policy.

 

It is the opinion that the Ministry of Health and Welfare chose the policy goal of sacrificing generics for preferential prices for innovative new drugs.

 

Ironically, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's drug price trade-off was initiated by the National Assembly's request to resolve the fact that sub-statutes for preferential drug prices for innovative new drugs within the 'Special Act on Promotion and Support of the Pharmaceutical Industry' had not been made for several years.

 

The National Assembly pressed the Ministry of Health and Welfare by repeatedly emphasizing the legitimacy and necessity of converting the sub-statute on preferential drug prices for innovative new drugs from the current voluntary regulation to mandatory regulation, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare promised to create a sub-statute as soon as possible instead of amending the law.

 

At the same time, the Ministry of Health and Welfare made clear its will to "lower generic drug prices." On top of that, starting on the 8th, 170 generics for single and combination drugs of Forxiga, which have prescriptions exceeding 90 billion won per year, were released to the market all at once.

 

As a result, the Ministry of Health and Welfare entered the process of materializing the willingness to cut drug prices, which was revealed in an inquiry about generic drug prices by Rep.

 

Choi Jae-hyeong of People’s Power in a parliamentary audit in October last year.

 

In response to this move by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the domestic pharmaceutical industry is evaluating that it has chosen an easy way to secure health insurance finances by reducing generic drug prices.

 

Some are criticizing that the drug price was cut from the two pillars of health insurance finance, 'Volume' and 'Drug Price', to secure financial soundness and secure financial resources for innovative new drugs.

 

In particular, rather than blindly lowering the price of generic drugs, pharmaceutical companies should look closely at each company's management to make generics that contribute to health insurance finances or exclude companies that do not neglect R&D investment to discover new drugs from the reduction targets.

 

They are also requesting consideration of delicate administration.

 

“In order to create a preferential drug price system for innovative new drugs as soon as possible, we did not stop at operating a public-private consultative body to collect opinions from pharmaceutical companies, but also pulled out a generic drug price cut card,” said a drug price manager at domestic pharmaceutical company A.

 

It is not true, but it is very regrettable that the Ministry of Health and Welfare blindly chooses an easy way to touch the price of generic drugs.” An official from Company A said, "Even if the price of generic drugs is reduced, we have to think about reducing the amount of usage together with drug prices, such as reducing unnecessary prescriptions by analyzing the prescription patterns of domestic drugs, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare shows no signs of doing so.

 

There are many cases where prescriptions are not necessary or for a longer period of time than necessary.

 

It is easy to price a drug with a pharmaceutical company, and it is difficult to adjust the prescription amount with a doctor.

 

A person in charge of drug prices at domestic pharmaceutical company B also said, “Regulate pharmaceutical companies that are only making temporary money through CSO sales without having a production plant or new drug R&D efforts, and pharmaceutical companies that make and sell generics themselves and use them as cash cows for new drug development can lower drug prices.

 

“I hope the government will think about a delicate policy that does not cut prices,” he said.

 

A person in charge of company B said, "I don't expect much from the enactment of sub-statutes for drug price preferential treatment.

 

Prior to preferential treatment, we need to select pharmaceutical companies that are making generics and new drugs properly, and create an environment in which the pharmaceutical company's drugs can be properly sold in the market."