Price increase: Not a drug agent, but an upstream enterprise?
In the interview, pharmacies told reporters that the reason for the price increase of shortage drugs is not related to them. Some hospitals, on the other hand, judge that the possibility of drug agents raising prices privately is also low.
The person in charge of drug procurement at a certain hospital believes: "Because it has risen exceptionally high, it is increasing by multiple times. I think it is unlikely that intermediaries will increase by that much
The head of a pharmaceutical company stated that many price increases originate from upstream companies, namely manufacturers and agents of raw materials. He told reporters that agents of raw materials had previously made unreasonable demands on him. He said, "Because I paid the raw material manufacturer last year, they haven't sent me the raw materials yet. He just asked for this and that. For example, if you give me all the preparations directly, why should I give them all to you? Then the raw material manufacturer didn't say whether to send them or not, they said you should negotiate as much as possible. Later, I said that I couldn't negotiate, otherwise you would refund, and I wouldn't do it.
Control the upstream and downstream of drug production and raise prices
The head of the pharmaceutical company said that the purpose of raw material drug agents recycling drugs is to control the drugs, so that the upstream and downstream of drug production can be controlled in a "one-stop" manner, thereby increasing drug prices.
The reporter sought confirmation from the National Development and Reform Commission. Xu Xinyu, Director of the Second Investigation Department of the Anti Monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that there is indeed a similar phenomenon in the shortage drug market. In the field of anti monopoly, this is called the abuse of market dominance.
Xu Xinyu said, "For example, if there are only two factories producing, he will find the production factory. The original price was 1000 yuan per ton, but now he has bought it out for 10000 yuan per ton. After buying it out, it means that I specify which pharmaceutical factory you want to sell to, and then the pharmaceutical factory will control the upstream and downstream linkage, and the price will rise
On August 15th, the National Development and Reform Commission issued an administrative penalty decision, imposing fines on Zhejiang New Secco Pharmaceutical and Tianjin Handwell Pharmaceutical due to the abuse of their dominant position in the isoniazid raw material market and the implementation of price monopolies. The reason why the price of isoniazid has skyrocketed more than 20 times in the short term has also been revealed.
Surprise! Individuals can control a drug
One characteristic of drug price monopoly is that it is mainly dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, and some even individuals can control a drug.
Xu Xinyu told the reporter: "The attending physician of the Department of Dermatology in a famous tertiary hospital in Beijing quit his job. He raised tens of millions to control a small medicine for heart disease, which he thought was an investment behavior. At first, he didn't understand. We talked to him about it repeatedly, but later he stopped."
It is understood that price monopoly can be divided into vertical monopoly between upstream and downstream enterprises and horizontal monopoly between similar enterprises. The previous price increase of allopurinol tablets was manipulated by several pharmaceutical companies in collusion. Shi Jianzhong, Vice President of China University of Political Science and Law, stated that as price regulatory authorities increase their crackdown, the price monopoly behavior of shortage drugs is becoming increasingly covert.
Shi Jianzhong said, "In the sense of the antitrust law, he may have just made a phone call and said I'm going to raise the price tomorrow, but there's no answer, and even said I know what you mean. But after they contacted each other, the prices did indeed rise.
