Chinanews Client Beijing, August 25th (Reporter Zhang Ni) Recently, North China Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was unable to supply the products selected by the national organization's centralized procurement in Shandong Province and gave up the qualification, and the National Organization Drug Joint Procurement Office included the company in " Violation list", canceled its qualification to participate in the centralized drug procurement activities organized by the state from August 11, 2021 to May 10, 2022.

  This was also the first incident in which a selected company failed to complete the agreed procurement volume and gave up its qualifications since the national centralized procurement.

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North China Pharmaceutical's breach of contract was included in the "violation list"

  On the 20th of this month, the National Organization for Pharmaceutical Joint Procurement Office (hereinafter referred to as "Joint Procurement Office") issued an announcement stating that North China Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " North China Pharmaceutical") failed to supply the agreed procurement volume in Shandong Province according to the agreement. After many talks and consultations with relevant departments, the supply situation has not improved.

The company proposed to abandon the eligibility for selection on August 11, 2021, resulting in a relatively concentrated and strong response from Shandong medical institutions.

  According to relevant regulations, after collective deliberation by the member units of the Joint Drug Procurement Office of the State Organization, it was decided to include North China Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. on the “list of violations” and cancel the company’s participation in the country from August 11, 2021 to May 10, 2022. Organize the declaration qualifications for centralized drug procurement activities.

  Since then, North China Pharmaceutical issued an announcement stating that multiple reasons have caused the supply of ibuprofen sustained-release capsules to be cut off, including insufficient attention by the relevant person in charge of the production unit and insufficient resources; the application for expansion projects and the review and approval process have been extended ; In early 2021, the new crown epidemic appeared in Shijiazhuang City, affecting production in the production plant area.

  In response to the incident, the United Procurement Office recently responded that the facts of North China Pharmaceutical’s breach of contract and breach of trust are clear.

It is clearly stipulated in the bidding document for the centralized procurement of drugs organized by the state that if the company fails to fulfill its supply promise and affects its clinical use, it will be included in the "list of violations" and be dealt with according to the severity of the circumstances.

  Since this was the first incident in which a selected company failed to complete the agreed procurement volume and gave up its eligibility for selection since centralized procurement across the country, the United Procurement Office has severely dealt with it in accordance with laws and regulations, and sent a strong signal to the society that "a successful bid must be fulfilled and breach of contract must be punished".

  After North China Pharmaceutical applied for abandoning the qualification, the Shandong Provincial Medical Insurance Department immediately initiated the candidate enterprise procedure. According to the established selection procedure, Zhuhai Rundu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has been determined as a substitute enterprise to supply Shandong Province. The selected price is 4.05 yuan per box (20 capsules). This price is lower than the selected price of North China Pharmaceuticals. Patients in Shandong Province will purchase drugs that also pass the consistency evaluation at a lower price.

  In the next step, the joint procurement office will pay close attention to the supply of ibuprofen sustained-release capsules of North China Pharmaceutical in the other six provinces. If there is a supply problem again, the relevant provinces will also promptly initiate disposal measures.

Data Map: Automatic Medicine Dispenser Photo by Yu Danfei

North China Pharmaceutical’s default due to the low price of the selected selection affects its profits?

  Previously, some media speculated that North China Pharmaceuticals defaulted because the low prices of centralized procurement affected profits.

  In response, the United Procurement Office responded that the state organizes centralized drug procurement to adhere to the decisive role of the market in price formation, and the rules are open and treated equally, so that all market entities have equal opportunities for competition. At the same time, companies are required to quote prices not lower than the cost in the procurement tenders. , The winning result is produced through fair competition.

Therefore, the selected enterprises and the selected prices are the result of independent quotations and fair competition in the market.

  According to reports, there are a total of 4 selected companies for ibuprofen sustained-release capsules, among which North China Pharmaceutical's selected price is the highest, at 8.04 yuan per box (30 capsules).

  Before the centralized procurement, the sales price of North China Pharmaceutical's ibuprofen sustained-release capsules on the centralized pharmaceutical procurement platforms of Tianjin, Shanxi, Qinghai and other provinces and cities was close to the selected price, but due to the lack of volume procurement, sales of the drug in 2020 Only more than 500,000 yuan.

  After the centralized procurement, using the "quantity-price linkage" method, it was agreed that Huabei Pharmaceutical would supply 79.75 million tablets in Shandong and other seven provinces and cities at the selected price. The annual sales could exceed 20 million yuan, but Huabei Pharmaceutical failed to fulfill its obligations.

  The United Procurement Office explained that the room for price reductions in centralized procurement mainly comes from three aspects, including direct supply to hospitals to reduce marketing costs, timely collection of funds to reduce financial costs, and small profits but quick turnover to reduce production costs. Existing unreasonable expenses, not enterprise production costs, do not affect the quality of medicines.

Data map: The patient uses the face recognition system to make an appointment with an expert number under the guidance of the patient.

Photo by Wang Guangzhao

The national centralized procurement has carried out 5 batches and will strengthen the monitoring of the supply situation

  According to the United Procurement Office, currently, the state has organized five batches of centralized drug procurement, covering 218 drugs, and the first four batches of 157 drugs have been implemented, involving 696 products.

  Among them, the first batch and the second batch of centralized procurement have completed the first-year procurement cycle, and the supply of selected drugs has reached more than twice the annual agreed procurement volume, and the actual procurement demand and supply have exceeded expectations.

  As of the end of July, the third batch of centralized procurement has been implemented for 9 months, and the average supply of selected drugs by the selected companies has reached 1.5 times the annual agreed purchase volume.

The fourth batch of centralized procurement has been implemented for 3 months, and the average supply of selected drugs by the selected companies has reached 45% of the annual agreed procurement volume.

  On the whole, the selected enterprises earnestly implemented the centralized procurement agreement, strictly fulfilled the contract in accordance with the agreed procurement volume, and the demand for medical institutions exceeding the agreed procurement volume was generally able to actively meet the supply.

  The Joint Procurement Office stated that it will further improve a number of measures in the future, including strengthening the monitoring and handling of the supply of selected drugs; effectively strengthening the application of the list of violations and untrustworthy ratings in the field of centralized drug procurement; implementing alternative mechanisms to improve market supply stability.

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