Record-Scale 12th National Drug Volume-Based Procurement Opens, Introduces 'Zero-Volume Award' Mechanism

The 12th round of China's national volume-based drug procurement opened on July 31 at the Nanjiao Hotel in Fengxian District, Shanghai. This round covers 65 commonly used clinical varieties, spanning multiple therapeutic areas including hypertension, diabetes, oncology, transplant anti-rejection, and anti-infection, making it the largest batch since the procurement program was launched. At 10:30 a. m. , the deadline for companies to submit pricing materials passed, with a total of 495 enterprises bidding 859 products, after which the bid-opening process began.

This round optimized the bidding rules by refining the anchor price and price dispersion correction mechanisms to reduce the disruption of extreme low prices on other companies' pricing space. For the first time, a 'zero-volume award' mechanism was introduced: companies that submit significantly low prices, even if they qualify as intended winners, will no longer receive guaranteed procurement volumes under the agreement. This round has a longer contract period, with a single bid affecting three years. Non-winning drugs will face 'red-yellow label' warnings and policy coordination on medical insurance payments.

In terms of competitive landscape, vitamin B6 injection and vonoprazan oral immediate-release formulations saw the most intense competition, with 49 and 48 companies respectively passing information review, while several other varieties had more than 30 companies competing. A total of 45,000 medical institutions submitted procurement demand volumes for this round, with all demand allocated to specific manufacturers based on actual needs reported by the institutions. Reference preparations that have been transferred to domestic production can participate equally in the procurement bidding, and a new 'no-volume revival' rule has been added.