In the latest effort to encourage the development of novel drugs, China's healthcare security authority announced a commercial insurance catalog for innovative medicines on July 11.

The new catalog will feature highly innovative drugs with significant clinical value that are not covered by the nation's basic medical insurance. This includes high-priced innovative cancer treatments, such as CAR-T therapies, gene therapy drugs, and certain medicines for rare diseases.

The catalog has been introduced as part of the National Healthcare Security Administration's annual adjustments to its basic reimbursement list.

The creation of the catalog aims to increase funding for the development of innovative medicines by incorporating these drugs into commercial health insurance plans.

Jin Chunlin, director of the Shanghai Health Development Research Center, explained, "The commercial insurance catalog of innovative medicines serves as a supplement, instead of a substitute, for medicines covered by the basic medical insurance."

The NHSA has clarified that if a drug qualifies for both catalogs, it will first undergo negotiations for inclusion in the basic medical insurance list. If the negotiations fail, the drug will then enter price negotiations for the commercial catalog.

Jin suggested that pharmaceutical companies developing highly innovative, high-priced medicines should target the commercial catalog, while those producing less innovative, low-cost drugs should focus on the basic insurance catalog.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Healthcare Security