Changes in Drug Listing Trends after the Reform of the Off-patent Pharmaceutical Pricing System in National Health Insurance

Abstract

In July 2020, the off-patent pharmaceutical price system in Korea was revised from a ‘same ingredient, same price’ principal to a ‘differentiated price’ principal, to accord with requirements met at the time of marketing authorization. This Short Report examined changes in the listing patterns of generic drugs following this policy change using the Pharmaceutical Reimbursement List and Price Table from July 2018 to October 2021. Following the revision, we observed that the number of new products listed on the table had been dropped. The monthly average number of new products was 440 prior to the revision and 84 after the revision. Two case analyses showed that this differentiated pricing system provides less motivation for generic manufactures to participate in the market after first-mover generic products have already been listed. This study reports the latest trends following this policy reform and provides baseline evidence for future policy evaluation.