The National Health Insurance (NHI) program has set the reimbursement for Taigexyn (nemonoxacin), a new antibiotic developed by TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥), at NT$180 (US$6) per pill, the company said on Thursday.
Taigexyn is the first locally developed new drug to be reimbursed by the NHI, the company said, adding that the antibiotic is to be available for prescription under the NHI beginning on Jan. 1.
Taigexyn has also been made available in 80 hospitals across eight provinces in China and TaiGen is engaged in talks on reimbursement terms with China’s national healthcare authorities, the company said.
The NHI’s decision to include the drug shows the government’s commitment to promoting the development of Taiwan’s biotechnology sector, industry experts said.
While other local new drug developers have gained regulatory approval to introduce new products to the market, these have been unable to make significant sales contributions, as prescription volumes have been limited due to a lack of NHI coverage, they said.
The precedent set by Taigexyn could brighten the outlook on reimbursement prices for new drug developers, experts said.
TaiGen in 2015 retracted its application to be included in the NHI out of concern that the government might set a lower price than expected for its product, which would greatly hamper the company’s pricing strategy in overseas markets.
The company in February resubmitted its application, after the Ministry of Health and Welfare amended its rules on drug reimbursement to take market conditions into consideration.
Separately, TaiGen said its joint venture with China’s HEC ChangJiang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (東陽光藥) was ahead of schedule on the development of a cocktail treatment for chronic hepatitis C.
The joint venture has commenced phase II clinical trials in China and the company expects the study to be completed before the end of next year, it said.
If the phase II trial proves successful, that would lead to US$20 million in milestone payments from its Chinese partner, TaiGen said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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