On October 16th, Caixin reported (by journalist Lu Afeng) that recently, the National Drug Centralized Procurement Office held a national centralized drug procurement meeting in Shanghai, during which a document called the 'tenth batch of national procurement quotas' was leaked within the industry, sparking widespread industry attention.

Caixin reporters contacted the preserved contact information in the above-mentioned document and spoke with a staff member from the National Drug Centralized Procurement Office. However, they stated that they could not confirm the content circulating on the internet. They mentioned, 'The national procurement quota document is an internal document, not for public release. The official procurement document will be released to the public later on.'

Several industry insiders have informed Caixin reporters that the document is genuine. According to the leaked quota list, it involves a total of 62 varieties and 280 specifications. A senior expert in drug procurement predicts that following the regular schedule, the tenth batch of national procurement will probably complete bidding by December 20th.

Several industry insiders have warned Caixin reporters that this list of quotas is not equivalent to the procurement list of the tenth batch of national procurement. 'This quota list is a filing document given by the relevant department to hospitals. The department will evaluate based on the quantity of varieties reported by the hospitals and eventually come up with the true procurement list,' said Zheng Pei, General Manager of Henan Dongxiao Enterprise Management Consulting Co.

"In other words, the final variety involved in the tenth batch of national procurement will be among this quota list," emphasized Zheng Pei.

"The final procurement list may exclude some varieties based on the quota list, or they may all be retained," said Zhang Tingjie, Founder of Fengyun Yaotan to Caixin reporters, "But based on the quota list, it can be seen that the competition for the tenth batch of national procurement involves at least seven parties."

Senior pharmaceutical industry expert Guo Xinfeng told Caixin reporters that the National Medical Insurance Administration's Drug Price and Bid Procurement Guidance Center previously released a catalog involving 137 varieties, requiring provincial centralized procurement agencies to verify platform drug procurement data and obtain actual sales figures from previous years. The quota list, on the other hand, aims to acquire actual hospital demands, which will be evaluated comprehensively before the official tenth batch of national procurement list is published.

According to the above quoted catalogue and public information from Yaorongyun, the varieties that may be included in the tenth batch of national procurement have a market size exceeding 1 billion, with 20 individual products such as Levornidazole Hydrochloride Lipid Injectable, Cefuroxime Sodium for Injection, Piperacillin Sodium for Injection, Compound α-Ketone Oral Sustained-Release Preparations, Adrenaline Injection, Aspirin Oral Sustained-Release Preparations, Sitagliptin Oral Sustained-Release Preparations, etc. There are 20 products with a market size between 0.4 billion and 1 billion, such as Tandospirone Oral Sustained-Release Preparations, Regorafenib Tablets, Sitagliptin Metformin, Fluorouracil Injection, Levamlodipine Injection, Nicardipine for Injection, and Ampicillin for Injection. There are a total of 22 individual products with a market size below 0.4 billion.

Among the varieties with more than twenty eligible and highly competitive enterprises, the most competitive for application are Sitagliptin Oral Sustained-Release Preparations for Diabetes, Phenobarbital Injection, Paramivir Injection, and Colistin Sodium Glucose Injection.

The intensity of competition in this national procurement may reach a new high. Guo Xinfeng cited examples, such as Paramivir Injection, where the number of companies evaluated has reached 22, but based on the rules of the ninth batch of centralized procurement, only 10 can be selected. This means that 12 companies need to be eliminated, making the competition for selection very fierce.

Finance Associated Press reporters found on Yaorongyun that the enterprises involved in Paramivir Injection include several large pharmaceutical companies, such as Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical (000756.SZ), China National Pharmaceutical Group, Humanwell Healthcare (600079.SH), Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, CSPC Pharma (01093.HK), and others.

It is worth mentioning that in the above-mentioned leaked procurement document, the joint procurement office also emphasized the discipline of medical institution procurement reporting: for quantities reported below 80% of their historical purchase volume, medical institutions are required to provide an explanation. For medical institutions that do not report quantities, report but do not purchase, or purchase but insufficiently, public inquiries will be conducted, and special on-site inspections will be organized.