THE STUDY OF DRUG PRICE COMPRISON BETWEEN CHINA AND 14 OTHER COUNTRIES
Author(s)
Liu B1, Su W2, Mo Y1
1Department of Health Economics, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 2IHS Life Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
OBJECTIVES: This research aims to figure out the price difference of certain drugs between China and the other countries, especially the country where the drug was originally produced (origin country) and those countries neighbor to China. METHODS: Forty-eight drugs with highest unit price and procurement value in China were selected. Fourteen countries from Europe, Asia and North America were included as comparator countries. Price data came from IHS POLY database and China national drug supply information platform. Price ratio (China vs. origin country) was used for the price comparison between China and origin country, and median price ratio was used for the price comparison between China and those reference countries. Official exchange rate issued by the International Monetary Fund was used in cross-country drug price comparison. RESULTS: Among 39 imported drugs, 22 drugs had price ratio (China to origin country) higher than 1. The highest price ratio was about 16 while the lowest price ratio is only 0.32. Drugs having price ratio higher than 2 were imported from France, Canada and Italy. On the basis of the available drug price information of the 14 reference countries, around two thirds of drugs were found with median price ratio (China to median price of reference countries) between 1 and 2. Only 3 kinds of drugs had median price ratio lower than 1. CONCLUSIONS: The empirical comparison of drug prices between China and origin countries showed contrast picture with some imported drugs are more expensive in China while some drugs much cheaper in China when compared with origin countries. Most of drugs from France and Canada had higher price in China. When compared with the other 14 reference countries, most drugs have similar price to China, except for some cancer drugs.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2016-09, ISPOR Asia Pacific 2016, Singapore
Value in Health, Vol. 19, No. 7 (November 2016)
Code
PHP34
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
Multiple Diseases