China Opens Door to Foreign Drugs, for a Discount

China is approving drugs manufactured by foreign companies at a record pace while extracting sizable discounts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The news comes after the country implemented a series of policies aiming to increase access to newer therapies, including cancer drugs.

GlaxoSmithKline has received eight of the 30 drug approvals granted to foreign companies by China through September of this year, while the country is on pace to approve 40 drugs from overseas drugmakers this year, compared to three in 2016.

Drugs approved under the new policies include Merck & Co.'s Gardasil 9 and Keytruda, while AstraZeneca and FibroGen's experimental anaemia drug called roxadustat could be granted accelerated approval this year.

Other drugmakers that could win approval for products in China this year include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

Meanwhile, companies have provided an average price cut of 54 percent on 10 drugs eligible for reimbursement by China's government, including price cuts of 71 percent for AstraZeneca's Tagrisso and 46 percent for Takeda's Ninlaro.