Xiong Xianjun, former director of National Healthcare Security Administration's Medical Service Management Department, published an article entitled "solving the problem of expensive drugs for rare Diseases" in the overseas edition of "People's Daily," pointing out that at present, the vast majority of drugs for rare diseases in the mainland have been included in the coverage of health insurance, and very few have not been included. One of the important reasons is that the prices of these drugs are too high, and the annual treatment costs of some rare diseases are even more than one million yuan.
The article points out that it is also a fact that the cost of research and development of drugs for rare diseases is high. However, high R & D cost is not a unique feature of rare disease drugs. All innovative drug R & D costs are very high, which means that R & D cost is a part that enterprises should consider when pricing, but the drug price has little to do with the level of R & D cost. it's finally decided by the market. If the enterprise wants to sell a high price and the market cannot accept it, the quotation of the enterprise cannot become the market price.
Judging from the drugs currently included in China's medical insurance catalogue, the annual cost of most drugs for rare diseases amounts to tens of thousands of yuan, some ranging from 100000 yuan to 200000 yuan, which is more expensive than ordinary drugs. But the price should be moderate, especially medicine, as a necessity, no matter how expensive it is, it cannot exceed the purchasing power of a market. If the price sold by the enterprise is too high and exceeds the purchasing power of the market, the medicine cannot be sold, and there is no guarantee for patients without treatment.
Judging from the medical insurance negotiations in recent years, the annual cost of rare disease drugs in China can be reduced to less than 300000 yuan. As the competitiveness of drugs for rare diseases increases, enterprises may reduce the annual cost of drugs to less than 300000 yuan. It shows that in the state of competition, enterprises are often profitable when the price of drugs is less than 300000 yuan.
The article points out that the protection mechanism for rare diseases is by no means a protection mechanism based on sky-high prices, nor is it separate from the existing protection mechanism and should play a role within the current multi-level health insurance framework. Rare disease protection mechanism should be on the basis of basic medical insurance, serious illness insurance, medical assistance, through the guidance of the government, give play to the role of charity and other social forces, so as to reduce the burden of patients with rare diseases.