China political advisors urge cutting red tape on generic drugs: Xinhua

[December 04, 2015] SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese political advisors on Thursday proposed cutting red tape to encourage the development of generic drugs and strengthen quality standards, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

A central set of standards for hospitals to use when selecting drugs should be established as well as policies to encourage procurement of better drugs, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference said according to Xinhua.

"Improving the quality of generic drugs concerns the sustainability of the health insurance system and matters to whether people can afford efficient drugs," Xinhua said, quoting a statement released by the committee.

China's Food and Drug Administration has promised to speed up approval of innovative new drugs, which can take 5-7 years, while cracking down on substandard local generics.

Domestic drugmakers have been competing heavily with their multinational counterparts, stoking a structural upheaval in China's hospital-dominated prescription drug market.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.