All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources, and the specific information is detailed in the article and at the end of the article
preface
Although the current level of economic development has risen sharply, and the National Health Insurance Bureau is also trying its best to negotiate drug prices for the people, not all pharmaceutical companies will cooperate.
There are so four pharmaceutical companies, in order to earn the people's "hard-earned money", they do not hesitate to join forces to monopolize a drug, one foreign one only needs 65 yuan, while the domestic one needs 2,303 yuan, more than 40 times higher, and even the price is still rising.
It's the same medicine, why is it so much more expensive in China than abroad?
"Sky-high medicine"
The current situation in this society, it is really that you can't get sick in anything, once Xu Zheng's "I Am Not the God of Medicine" exposed the appearance of the people at the bottom after getting sick, many families have the opportunity to go bankrupt in order to treat the disease, but the pharmacists have made a lot of money, but I didn't expect that one day the movie could also shine into reality.
In 2023, the news that 4 pharmaceutical companies monopolized and sold drugs at 44 times higher prices than foreign countries, and was finally fined 1.2 billion yuan quickly rushed to the hot search, and when some netizens said after reading what happened, 1.2 billion was still too little.
The monopoly of these pharmaceutical companies is a drug called "polymyxin sulfate B for injection", which is mainly used to deal with "anti-gram-negative bacilli", that is, infections caused by sensitive bacteria.
In particular, the symptoms of urinary tract infection, meningitis, sepsis, burn infection and skin and mucosal infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa have a very strong inhibitory and bactericidal effect, and the demand for it is very high for both patients and doctors.
Many people may not know about these symptoms, and they don't know how important this drug is, so that anti-gram-negative bacilli are one of the main sources of infection in the body, and it belongs to the top position in the list of infectious diseases.
Although, the general drug has a certain effect on it, but the resistance to gram-negative bacilli is too strong, once the general drug does not kill it for the first time, then it will basically not have any lethality in the future, and "polymyxin sulfate B for injection" will kill its good hand, and it can be regarded as the last line of defense to inhibit it, but the amount of use is not small.
Article information source: Qilu One Point ---2024.01.04: "Life-saving drugs for critically ill patients have dropped from more than 2,000 yuan to 123 yuan, and the profit is amazing"
At this time, some people will think that this drug must have been researched in recent years, in fact, it has been developed a long time ago, and because it was developed too early, many pharmaceutical companies have the formula of this drug, and Ali can be developed casually, and the raw materials are not expensive, so the price abroad is not high, just dozens of yuan.
But as the saying goes, "scarcity is expensive", this medicine changed as soon as it arrived in China, and it was directly monopolized by a company called Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical (Shanghai Shanghai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), which directly controlled the domestic market, and also united with three other companies to directly raise the "polymyxin sulfate B for injection" to a sky-high price.
Monopoly from the source
After getting the formula and production permission of this drug, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical began to investigate its audience, and after learning that "polymyxin sulfate B for injection" is a fast-acting and less auxiliary effect, many hospitals cannot replace it, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical began its monopoly road.
There is no raw material for the production of this pharmaceutical in China, and it can only be imported from abroad, and this purchase channel has also been monopolized by Wuhan Huihai, Wuhan Kede, and Minkang Pharmaceutical (hereinafter collectively referred to as Huihai Pharmaceutical).
They signed an agreement with the raw material company Denmark Yacelli early on to make them agents in China, and then they also used some means to make them the only agents in China, and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical was the only manufacturer, so they hit it off and cooperated.
One produces materials, the other produces technology, and the right to sell is also in their hands, which realizes the first step of monopoly, at this time, if they sell, then they can also make money, but they make less money, so they give birth to raise the price of raw materials to make the price of medicine go up.
So Huihai Pharmaceutical began to turn over, they arranged 38 pharmaceutical factories in Hubei, Jiangxi and other places to sell layer by layer, and forcibly raised the price of about 90 yuan a gram to 18,000 ~ 35,000 grams for sales, which also created the illusion that raw materials are expensive so medicines are expensive.
This effect was formed very quickly, starting with a 2303 one, and soon increased to 2918 one, and the price of different regions also changed.
Article information source: Xinhua News Agency client ---2014.01.04: "The National Health Insurance Bureau Interviewed Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemistry Again to Urge Price Reduction"
The benefits brought by this are also very considerable, in 2022 alone, Huihai Pharmaceutical will illegally obtain 610 million yuan, and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemistry will obtain 330 million yuan, but it is not advisable to earn the people's "hard-earned money" in this way, and soon their retribution will come.
A fine of 1.2 billion
In 2023, some relevant departments found that Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical and Huihai Pharmaceutical cooperated to monopolize the pharmaceutical, and also falsely increased the price of raw materials hundreds of times, and the selling price was also outrageous, obtaining a large number of improper benefits, so they imposed a fine of 1.2 billion yuan.
And the National Health Insurance Bureau directly came to talk to Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical, so that it could reduce the price, after some discussion, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical also reduced the price of 2303 to 270 yuan, for the country's move, the patients who used the drug are very grateful, and some netizens have also thanked the motherland, but they just feel that the penalty of 1.2 billion is too little.
The National Health Insurance Bureau felt that 270 yuan was still too high, so it made an appointment with Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical again, and after a discussion, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical had reduced the price to 123 yuan a piece, and also reduced the price of other 17 drugs by the way, compared with the previous price, which can save a lot of money for many families.
Because this drug is the exclusive production of Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical, although there are still three companies applying for it, it will take some time for the review to be approved and added to the production, so for the time being, only Shanghai Pharmaceutical Biochemical is in production, and I am afraid that he will be passive OEM, and the National Health Insurance Bureau will personally supervise and ensure that the drug can be supplied stably.
"I hope that no one in the world is sick, and it is better to have medicine and dust on the shelf!"
Article sources:
Xinhua News Agency client --- 2024.01.17: "Xinhua Health|Continuous Interview, National Health Insurance Administration Cracks Down on Pharmaceutical Companies to "Force Prices with Shortages"
Qilu One Point ---2024.01.04: "Life-saving drugs for critically ill patients have dropped from more than 2,000 yuan to 123 yuan, and the profit is amazing"
Finance Associated Press ---2023.12.18: "Eventful Autumn Shanghai Pharmaceutical: Nearly One Percent of Net Profit Factor Companies Involved in Monopoly Fines and Forfeitures Polymyxin Sulfate B "Discounted" The Truth Emerges? 》
Sina Finance --- 2024.01.05: "Pharmaceutical companies were punished for colluding to sell drugs at ultra-high prices, and the National Health Insurance Bureau interviewed again"