Recently, five authorities including the General Office of the National Health Commission ("NHC") have jointly issued the Catalog of the First Batch of Encouraged Generic Drugs (the "Catalog") and meanwhile distributed a circular to clarify relevant work arrangements.
The Catalog lists 33 types of drugs (in their generic names), such as "Nitisinone" and "Posaconazole", covering multiple anti-cancer drugs, rare disease drugs, and drugs in short supply before. For each type of drug, its dosage form and specification are provided. These listed drugs are primarily those drugs, for which registration renewal applications have not been yet filed as their domestically-registered patents have expired or will expire and which are in short supply in clinical treatment (or do not have a fully competitive market), and the catalog is intended to steer enterprises towards more efforts in research and development, registration, and production of these drugs. The circular calls on all related departments to give support for clinical trials, research of key and common technologies, prioritized evaluation and examination, in line with the applicable provisions.