A concept for multi-winner tenders for medicinal products with balancing between efficient prices, long-term competition and sustainability of supply.

Achieving price efficiency via tenders, the sustainability of competition, and the prevention of shortages are hot topics in the debates about shaping the pharmaceutical markets. Single-winner tenders receive growing criticism for concentrating on achieving low prices at the expense of the long-term maintenance of a competitive pharmaceutical industry, the security of continuous supply, and disregarding the therapeutic needs of patient populations with specific conditions. This paper aims at drafting a concept to assist the design of multi-winner tenders for medicinal products with a focus on supply and sales guarantees, price efficiency, and equity in access. The concept shall be generally applicable to all kinds of medicinal products including generics, biosimilars, and on-patent products in the out- and in-patient sector. Principles for multi-winner tenders for medicinal products are set and a number of delimitations are made in order to get rid of factors that prevent clairvoyance amid the various pricing and reimbursement systems when designing a concept. The steps to plan and implement a multi-winner tendering procedure are drafted on the basis of the defined principles. The tender should consist of planning, bidding, preparation, sales, and evaluation phases. Pharmaceutical companies shall make bids with price and quantity pairs, which shall be ranked by prices and if applicable then taking into account other factors. The tenderer shall predefine market shares to the various places of the ranking. A double ceiling shall be applicable for the sales of the winners: their sales must not exceed their quantity offer and the predefined market share applicable to their place in the ranking. The implementation of the concept will require the careful adjustment of the tender conditions to the specificities of the pharmaceutical market concerned on the one hand and to the local pricing and reimbursement system on the other hand.

Research on the supply guarantee system of orphan drugs in South Korea from the perspective of accessibility and its enlightenment / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To systematically introduce the supply guarantee system of orphan drugs in South Korea， and to provide reference for improving the accessibility of orphan drugs in China. METHODS The basic characteristics and practical experience of supply guarantee system of orphan drugs in South Korea were summarized by studying the marketing incentive mechanism， reserve supply mechanism and emergency use mechanism. Then， based on the research on the current situation and existing problems of orphan drug supply in China， specific suggestions were put forward to improve the accessibility of orphan drugs in China. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS South Korea has effectively improved the accessibility of orphan drugs through orphan drug identification channels and supporting incentive policies， relying on the reserve supply mechanism and the import route for emergency use. Therefore， it is suggested that China should guarantee the normal supply of orphan drugs from three aspects： improving the recognition and incentive policy of orphan drugs， building a full-time management department of orphan drugs， and optimizing the temporary import path.

Analysis on the Reasons and Countermeasures of Drug Network Withdrawa l under the Background of the Nor- malization of Centralized Volume-based Procurement / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To provid e reference for the optimization and improvement of centralized volume-based procurement policy of drugs in China. METHODS ：Six provinces ，i.e. Hebei ，Jiangsu，Hainan，Henan，Jiangxi and Yunnan ，were randomly selected nationwide by random sampling to summarize and analyze the information of drug network withdrawal from Jan. 1st，2018 to Nov. 30th，2020. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS ：Jiangsu province had the largest number of withdrawn products from the network，being 6 331；Yunnan province had the smallest ，being 101. Product price was the leading factor for drug network withdrawal，accounting for 89.12％；the second factor was product quality ，accounting for 7.06％；the third factor was the product supply，accounting for 2.91％. At present ，there were many problems in drug network withdrawal in China ，such as inconsistent withdrawal regulations in different regions ，unclear subjects of withdrawal behavior ，difficulty in sharing information of purchasing platforms in different regions ，unreasonable bidding rules of online drugs ，etc. Some suggestions are put forward to promote standardization of drug network withdrawal ，promote information sharing among provincial platforms ，actively develop drug price monitoring，support enterprises to make reasonable pricing based on cost ，strengthen departmental linkage and guarantee of drug supply so as to improve centralized volume-based procurement policy of drugs.

Exploration and Consideration of Essential Medicine Supply Guarantee Reform in Poverty and Remote Areas of China: Based on Perspective of Supply Chain Governance / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE:To provide reference for introducing supply chain governance theory into essential medicine supply guarantee reform evaluation system in poverty and remote areas.METHODS:The literatures and reform policies in the field of essential medicine supply guarantee since the New Medical Reform were sorted out to analyze the problems and insufficiency of existing researches,and explore the feasibility of supply chain governance theory in the field of essential medicine supply guarantee.RESULTS:The research boundary of existing studies is not clear,and existing studies are lack of evaluation and analysis method,focus too much on using available data and the result of its quantitative,and lack of comprehensive analysis of combined quantitative and qualitative under theoretical framework.The introduction of supply chain governance theory reveal the mechanism of policy's effectiveness clearly,to provide the reference of policies' tendency.CONCLUSIONS:Through the establishment of theoretical framework based on supply chain governance theory,evaluation system will expand the study strategies and data collection technology in the field of drug circulation.Furthermore,supply chain governance theory and method can be generalized.It not only applies in poverty and remote areas and for the evaluation of essential medicine supply guarantee,but also can be used in the field of drug circulation reform.