Chinese drug watchdog proposes offender blacklist
Public confidence in pharma companies at an all-time low following recent gelatine capsule scandal
By A Nair, Asia Correspondent
In an effort to salvage public confidence after more than 200 Chinese pharmaceutical companies were reported to be producing chromium-contaminated gelatine capsules that could potentially cause cancer, China's top drug watchdog is soliciting public opinions on a proposal to blacklist some drug companies.
The blacklist would include companies and people that ‘severely’ violate the safety rules in manufacturing and selling medicines and medical equipment, and would be made available through government websites and media releases.
According to a draft regulation posted on the website of China's State Food and Drug Administration, the public has been invited to send comments about companies that make or sell fake or substandard medicine, forge materials to apply for licences, and produce medical equipment without credentials. Companies on the blacklist are to be monitored by the drug watchdog.
In a parallel move, China's National Development and Reform Commission is to impose large fines on two domestic drug companies for monopoly pricing. This is the first ever antimonopoly penalty in China.
The government has been keen to standardise the price setting system for drugs and crack down on monopolies. The fines were set at $1.08m for Shandong Weifang Shuntong Pharmaceutical and $2m for Shandong Weifang Huaxin Medicine Trade.
An investigation by the Commission's price supervision and antimonopoly department found that the companies controlled the raw material supply for compound reserpine tablets, a treatment for high blood pressure that is on China's essential drug list. The department said that the behaviour constituted a monopolistic practice and inflicted great harm on the medicine pricing system.
More than 10 million patients, mostly low and middle income people, use this medicine in China. About 9 billion pills are taken annually.