Two-tier medicinal herbs reserve system or established before the end of the year

An industry insider who declined to be named revealed to the reporter of the Medical Economics News: “According to me, the national and local medicine reserves system is expected to be announced before the end of the year.”

Exploring the old

In 2010, 84% of the 537 kinds of Chinese herbal medicines in the national market increased their prices, with an average increase of 109%. Since March of this year, prices of Chinese herbal medicines have entered the fourth peak. Compared with the previous three rounds, the price increase for this round of Chinese herbal medicines is even more ferocious.

According to the results of the monitoring of 537 herbal medicines by Chinese herbal medicine company Tiandi in September, more than half of the Chinese herbal medicines still maintain the upward trend. It is particularly noteworthy that two months ago, the National Development and Reform Commission ordered the “clearance” of Codonopsis, the current market price. Still high. The rising price of Chinese herbal medicines will add a lot of pressure to the Chinese patent medicine production enterprises.

According to Guo Fanli, a research fellow in the pharmaceutical industry at China Investment Consulting Group, “In the case of unchanged prices of proprietary Chinese medicines, in order to obtain profits, it is very likely that manufacturers of Chinese traditional medicines will cut corners in raw materials for Chinese herbal medicines, which will greatly affect the quality of proprietary Chinese medicines. The local and local two-tier medicine reserves system can control the over-rapid rise in prices of Chinese herbal medicines and ease the pressure on Chinese patent medicine manufacturing enterprises."

Jia Haibin, deputy general manager of Chinese herbal medicine company, believes that in addition to stabilizing the prices of Chinese herbal medicines, the significance of the country's development of the reserve system for Chinese herbal medicines at this time lies in "through strategic reserves, it can solve emergency situations such as rescue and emergency relief; at the same time, it can also ensure that Chinese medicine manufacturers Raw material supply will not be broken."

In fact, the strategic reserve system of Chinese herbal medicines is not new. “In the era of planned economy, the three-tiered reserve system also existed for a long time. Although it was more rigid, it still solved most of the domestic production and supply of Chinese herbal medicines. In the planned economy system, this kind of reserve system was still relatively successful.” Jia Haibin Indicated.

It is understood that in the 1980s, led by China Herbal Medicine Company, China established the first-level and second-level stations for the acquisition of medicinal materials. This medicinal material reserve system has played an active role in the development of the industry.

Until the mid-1980s, this three-tiered reserve system began to disappear as the market economy developed.

Zhou Lushan, chairman of Guangzhou Caizhilin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., also told reporters: “In the planned economy period, Guangdong province established a medicinal material reserve system under the leadership of the provincial herbal medicine company. At that time, it implemented financial subsidies for corporate loans and national discounts. It can be said that it is an effective model that has been fully considered by the country. However, after many years, great changes have taken place in all aspects. The Guangdong Provincial Pharmaceutical Company has no market.”

It can be seen that although the established medicinal material reserve system can be used as a reference, it is necessary to establish an effective reserve mechanism to be worn out and to establish new ones.

Long-term mechanism

Faced with the “high fever” of prices, the state has increasingly attached importance to the strategic reserves of Chinese herbal medicines, and the re-establishment of the reserve system has gradually been put on the agenda.

The "Outline of the National Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry Development Plan (2011-2015)" that was released earlier clearly stated that it is necessary to establish a reserve system for key varieties of Chinese medicinal materials.

“Under the premise that the raw material supply system for Chinese herbal medicines is under control, it is necessary as an emergency measure.” However, Jia Haibin also pointed out: “But as a long-term mechanism, the establishment of a reserve system remains to be discussed.”

Jia Haibin explained: "First, the country's establishment of a reserve system is actually an external force and does not conform to the laws of market economy. Second, specific operations may have more problems to solve, such as the types of reserves, the length of the reserve period, and the validity period. Management, but also to avoid the appearance of the market."

In addition to these difficulties, Guo Fanli believes: “The reserve prices of Chinese herbal medicines are not well-understood at both the central and local levels. This is because China has a wide geographical area and the level of economic development varies from region to region.”

The establishment of the reserve system for Chinese herbal medicines is in full swing, and industry professionals have come up with ideas for this.

Jia Haibin said: "I expect that the medicine reserve system to be established will be different from the three-tiered reserve system of the previously planned economy. It will be a kind of 'order-style' reserve, that is, a model that will be entrusted by enterprises under the plan of the country. ."

In order to solve the problems in reserves, Jia Haibin proposes to focus on three aspects: “First, after such reserves, establish a long-term mechanism as soon as possible, follow the road of modern agriculture, and stabilize production. Second, reserve varieties must be carefully Considering that, at the same time, we must also strategically reserve varieties at low prices, throw them at high prices, and thus stabilize market prices. Third, we must establish reserves for the types of Chinese herbal medicines involved in emergencies such as disaster relief and emergency outbreaks. ”

Guo Fanli also told reporters: “To do this work, first of all, we need an e-commerce platform that provides collection, analysis, and publication of production and sales information for the Chinese herbal medicine industry. We must be fair, open, and transparent. Second, we need to improve Chinese medicine. Timber price formation mechanism."

He added: “The government should conduct a rigorous review of the prices of Chinese herbal medicines reported by enterprises. For those who are hoarding Chinese herbal medicines and cause the price of related medicines to rise, the government should intervene in time to prevent disrupting the market; and to make necessary reserves of Chinese herbal medicines, In particular, Chinese herbal medicine varieties that are easily controlled by hot money."

As for the selection of herbal medicine reserve companies, Zhou Lushan proposed: “The state should consider state-owned enterprises with standardized management and good faith to make reserves. At the same time, these companies should also be assessed every year, and according to the implementation, make adjustments every few years. ."