(Yicai) April 24 -- Insulin prices were squeezed by an additional 3.8 percentage points on average in the second round of China’s centralized procurement of the hormone essential for sugar regulation in the body, although the prices of some injections rose.

Fifty-three products were submitted by 13 bidders, including China’s Gan & Lee Pharmaceutical and foreign drugmakers such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, in the bulk buy program, which was introduced by the National Healthcare Security Administration in 2018 to cut the price of medicines and guarantee affordable drugs to patients.

Of these, 49 were successful and the average price reduction was expanded by 3.8 percentage points from the 48-percent-cut in the first round which took place in late 2021, the authority announced yesterday. The results of the first round were implemented in May 2022 with a contract duration of two years.

Purchase demand for over 240 million insulin injections were submitted by more than 35,000 medical institutions during round two. Those accepted into the scheme will be distributed next month as the products from the first round are withdrawn.

Some firms, though, saw a higher price accepted. Eli Lilly’s protamine zinc recombinant lispro insulin mixed injection (25R) won the bidding at a price of CNY38.42 (USD5.30) per jab, double that of the first round and the highest price hike among bidders.

Altogether Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly submitted six insulin injections, but two of them were not considered as their prices were above the upper limit.

Gan & Lee’s prices were also higher than last time. Of the six jabs submitted by the Beijing-based firm, its insulin glargine injection had the biggest jump, surging 33 percent to CNY65.30 (USD9) per jab.

This time round, the centralized procurement of insulin became more practical to better meet patients’ needs, promote reasonable competition between drugmakers and leverage the upgrading of insulin injections, said Jin Chunlin, director of the Shanghai Health Development Research Center.

The medical bulk-buy program no longer just seeks low prices, but rather the health authority is forming a new pricing mechanism to find the most suitable prices, Jin added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor