Impact of National Centralized Drug Procurement Policy on Antiviral Utilization and Expenditure for Hepatitis B in China

Background and Aims:The National Centralized Drug Procurement(NCDP)policy was launched in China's Mainland in April 2019,with entecavir(ETV)and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate(TDF)being included in the procurement list.We conducted the current study to investigate the impact of the NCDP policy on the utilization and expenditures of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B(CHB)in China.Methods:Procurement records,including monthly purchase volume,expenditure,and price of nucleos(t)ide analogs(NAs),were derived from the National Healthcare Security Administration from April 2018 to March 2021.The changes in volumes and expenditures of the first-line NAs and bid-winning products were calculated.The effects of price,volume,and structure related to drug expenditure were calculated by the Addis and Magrini(AM)Index System Analysis.Results:The purchase volume of NAs significantly increased from 134.3 to 318.3 million DDDs,whereas the expenditure sharply decreased from 1,623.41 to 490.43 million renminbi(RMB)or 241.94 to 73.09 million US dollars(USD).The proportions of firstline NAs rose from 72.51%(ETV:69.00%,TDF:3.51%)to 94.97%(ETV:77.42%,TDF:17.55%).AM analysis showed that the NCDP policy decreased the expenditure of all NAs(S=0.91)but increased that of the first-line NAs in the bidwinning list(S=1.13).Assuming the population size of CHB patients remains stable and a compliance rate of≥75%,the proportion of CHB patients receiving first-line antiviral therapy would increase from 6.36–8.48%to 11.56–15.41%.Conclusions:The implementation of the NCDP policy significantly increased the utilization of first-line NAs for CHB patients at a lower expenditure.The findings provided evidence for optimizing antiviral therapy strategy and allocating medical resources in China.

Trends of consumption and expenditure of antibacterial traditional Chinese medicine in secondary and tertiary hospitals in China:an analysis of pharmaceutical sales data,2011–2015

Traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs)are commonly used in China,and some of them have been proved to be effective against infection caused by certain pathogenic bacteria.In the present study,we aimed to describe the trends of antibacterial-effect traditional Chinese medicine(AeTCM)consumption and expenditure in secondary and tertiary hospitals in China using pharmaceutical sales data from January 2011 to December 2015.Aggregated monthly surveillance data on AeTCM sales in China’s hospitals were retrospectively analyzed.Population weighted daily define doses,which are the recommended daily amounts based on dosage regimen recommended in the manufacturers’instructions,were adopted.The AeTCM consumption was expressed in DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day(DID).The AeTCM expenditure was expressed in US dollars.A compound annual growth rate(CAGR)was used to describe the growth of AeTCM consumption and expenditure.A total of 1293 AeTCMs were matched and analyzed from 468 tertiary hospitals and 114 secondary hospitals from 28 provinces.The total AeTCM consumption and expenditure demonstrated a significant upward trend during the study period from 4.07 DID to 6.82 DID with a CAGR of 13.75%,and 839.75 million US dollars to 1276.82 million US dollars with a CAGR of 11.04%,respectively.Compared with eastern provinces,the consumption of AeTCMs was higher in the central and western provinces.Parenteral AeTCMs accounted for 7.20%of the total Ae TCM consumption,but nearly 45%of the total AeTCM expenditure.The AeTCM use in China demonstrated a rapid growth,which could be the result of the substitutional effect from antimicrobial stewardship and brought a potential risk of overuse.More studies are needed to further explore the potential efficacy of AeTCMs as an alternative approach towards infection treatment and to help confine antimicrobial resistance.