Top Biz News

China to scrutinize drug prices

By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-27 09:42

The regulation also calls for the creation of a pool of experts to help establish a more scientific review and verification system for drug pricing. The experts would be selected randomly to ensure transparency and impartiality.

Drug industry insiders said the move would help restore public confidence in the country's drug industry, which has been criticized for its opaque pricing system and the high costs consumers must bear.

The NDRC has capped the prices of hundreds of drugs to control the soaring costs and regularly orders price reductions.

Meanwhile, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) has also waded into the fray, announcing that it had set up a high-risk drug production supervisory system on Sunday on its website.

By the end of next month, supervisors will be dispatched to companies that make blood products and vaccines to oversee the implementation of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification system, which was initiated and pushed forward by the disgraced former SFDA chief Zheng Xiaoyu, who allegedly abused his power by taking bribes.

The drug supervisors are to be selected from among local drug watchdog administrations or their subsidiaries and trained by the SFDA.