Negotiators work to bring down nation's prescriptions

Du Wentao, chairman of Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical, said during an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television that it has spent five years and over 70 million yuan in researching the drug.

"So far, our drugs have only been introduced to less than 20 percent of relevant hospitals and many parents have to travel far to larger hospitals to obtain the drug," he said. "Getting on the list means that grassroots coverage for the drug will be improved and more child patients can access effective treatment."

Wu Jing, deputy dean of Tianjin University's School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, said, "The speedy action related to boosting access to the drug has demonstrated the government's attention to the rare disease patient community."

Even though the market price of domestic Clobazam per tablet is only 3 yuan, Wu said that the medicine is usually delivered along with other drugs and the total costs constitute a heavy burden on some families.

"The price reduction could range from a few percent to over 90 percent because the principle is not purely chasing after steep cuts, but a pursuit of the most reasonable price," Wu said. "All negotiated prices will be tested against economic barometers that evaluate clinical value."

Huang, the official from the National Healthcare Security Administration, said that during price negotiations in late October, a total of 28 drugs failed to secure a deal. The reason was that their anticipated prices had exceeded the bottom-line price by a giant margin, and some drugmakers were unwilling to reduce their prices to a level lower than the international average.

Authorities were looking for the lowest price compared to the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and other developed countries, which have a much higher GDP per capita compared to China. It is reasonable to ask for a lower price than these markets considering China's large population, Huang said.