Eun-Kyung Jeong appointed as new MOHW Minister

Efforts for telemedicine, medicine delivery, and generic drug management to gain momentum

Will seek solution for medicine shortages... Possibility of limited application of International Nonproprietary Name (INN) prescription also draws attention

Also expressed commitment to strengthening platform regulations... “No dependence on specific clinics or pharmacies”

With the appointment of Eun-kyung  Jeong (60, Seoul National University College of Medicine) as Minister of Health and Welfare, efforts to institutionalize and legislate telemedicine, as well as to establish a prescription drug delivery system, are expected to gain momentum.

 

The government will begin establishing specific measures to stabilize the supply of pharmaceuticals, including promoting generic prescriptions and limited introduction of International Nonproprietary Name (INN) prescriptions.

 

In light of the government’s push to strengthen health insurance coverage, the possibility of reforming the pricing system for generic drugs is also increasing.

 

For this, the new minister will be tasked with addressing demands from the pharmaceutical industry.

 

On the 22nd, Minister Jung highlighted the key healthcare and pharmaceutical policies she expects to pursue during her inaugural speech.

 

Rapid rollout of telemedicine and prescription drug delivery policies Minister Jung plans to establish a legal framework for telemedicine as a supplementary tool to in-person care, aiming to enhance the stability of the system.

 

She plans to actively participate in the enactment of three bills on revising the Medical Service Act currently pending in the National Assembly that focus on institutionalizing telemedicine.

 

In the process, a public electronic prescription system for telemedicine and a prescription drug delivery system will likely be established.

 

Minister Jung has repeatedly emphasized her commitment to legislating telemedicine in a way that prevents intermediary platforms from dominating medical institutions and pharmacies, thereby avoiding disruption to the healthcare delivery system and the pharmacy ecosystem.

 

Accordingly, detailed provisions for the regulation and oversight of telemedicine intermediary platforms are expected to be carefully incorporated during the legislative process.

 

“In light of the need to ensure medical safety and convenience for the public, as well as to improve healthcare accessibility for vulnerable populations, it is essential to establish a legal framework for telemedicine and intermediary platform businesses to enable stable operation.

 

We will gather opinions from various stakeholders, including the medical and pharmaceutical community, patient groups, private companies, and experts, to systematically establish a plan from the outset for the construction and operation of a public electronic prescription transmission system.” She added, “Telemedicine should be institutionalized in a way that ensures the safety of medical treatment and improves the quality of primary care, rather than expanding the profits of platforms.

 

I hope that appropriate regulatory measures will be discussed in the National Assembly to address concerns that platforms may effectively demonize medical institutions and pharmacies or promote profit maximization.” Regarding the institutionalization of a drug delivery system to improve the effectiveness of telemedicine, Jung said, “We agree on the need to establish a drug delivery system,” but added, “However, we must also consider measures to address concerns about the pharmacy dependence within telemedicine platforms, market concentration of large pharmacies, and the collapse of the local pharmacy system.” Regarding the major point of contention, the scope of initial and follow-up telemedicine consultations, Minister Jung responded, “We will discuss the matter after evaluating the pilot program and comprehensively considering the opinions of experts, the medical community, and patients, but we will follow medical judgments and standards rather than administrative criteria.” Generic drug price cut is likely With Minister Jung’s appointment, there is a greater possibility that drug price reevaluation, which will reduce the prices of generic drugs that account for a large proportion of domestic pharmaceutical companies, will be activated.

 

Although it is challenging to compare drug prices in real terms due to differences in economic scales, drug pricing systems, and health insurance systems across countries, Minister Jung’s view is that the price of generic drugs in Korea is higher compared to other major countries (A8).

 

To provide optimal drug reimbursement within the limited health insurance budget, Minister Jung had previously stressed the need to manage drug prices at an appropriate level.

 

Minister Jung’s solution involves reforming the drug pricing reimbursement system to ensure that profits from generic drug sales can be reinvested into new drug development, while also preventing excessive competition from a flood of generics with identical ingredients and manufacturing processes produced through contract manufacturing.

 

In particular, regarding the post-market management of drug prices, such as regular re-evaluation of reimbursement prices and benefit criteria, Minister Jung reaffirmed plans to revise the pricing policy for generics, stating “I believe there is room for stronger oversight in the pricing system, particularly concerning generic drugs.” Improvement of measures for drug with unstable supply and review of INN  prescriptions In order to resolve the issue of unstable drug supply, there is a possibility that a new supply response system with the nature of an intergovernmental consultative body will be established, or that relevant legislation such as the revision of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act will be enacted.

 

This is because Minister Jeong agreed on the need to break away from the current limitations of seeking solutions to the unstable drug supply situation only around essential medicines.

 

During the hearing, Minister Jung stated, “Supply instability issues occur regardless of whether they are classified as essential medications, so the current support system that focuses on essential medications under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act has limitations in addressing such issues.

 

Therefore, it is necessary to revise the support system under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act to enable policy intervention across all aspects of medicines with unstable supply, including the establishment of new support grounds and governance reforms.” In particular, unlike national essential medicines, there are no legal grounds for defining medicines with unstable supply, so the Minister agreed on the need to establish a separate definition.

 

In addition, Minister Jung is likely to take proactive measures beyond diagnosing causes and providing customized support through public-private consultations on medicines with unstable supply, such as promoting substitute prescriptions and limited introduction of International Nonproprietary Name (INN) prescriptions.

 

Minister Jung explained, “To enable flexible responses to drug supply instability situations, we have revised the Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act to simplify the post-notification procedure for substitute prescriptions.

 

We are currently constructing a support information system for post-notification of substitute prescriptions in line with the implementation date of the revised Enforcement Decree.” She further elaborated, “Additionally, to fulfill the new government's pledge to ensure the stable supply of essential medicines, we are considering the introduction of INN prescriptions for essential medicines with unstable supply.”