After being fired, I became the light of medicine

Chapter 86 Negotiations Begin

The day after the meeting, Liu Weiguo led several colleagues from the Medical Insurance Bureau to visit Qingshan Pharmaceutical in person.

Zhang Yang was a little surprised by the arrival of Liu Weiguo and his team. After all, "Acofenac" has not even completed the Phase III clinical trial. Isn't it too early for the Medical Insurance Bureau to come to him now?

but.

When he saw his old acquaintance Zhou Hai among the entourage, he still received them warmly.

"Mr. Zhang, let me formally introduce you. This is Director Liu Weiguo, Deputy Director of the National Medical Insurance Administration's Drug Bidding and Procurement Department."

"Director Liu, this is the CEO of Qingshan Pharmaceutical, Zhang Yang."

"Hello, Director Liu."

Zhang Yang took the initiative to stretch out his right hand and also took a look at Liu Weiguo.

Liu Weiguo has a square face and looks to be in his fifties. He is full of energy, but his hair on the temples is a little gray, making him look upright yet a little weathered.

"Hello Mr. Zhang, I have heard a lot about you!"

"I've heard that you're very young, but I didn't expect you to be so young. It's true that heroes always emerge from youth!"

"Haha, Director Liu, thank you for the compliment. Let's take a seat first."

Everyone took their seats.

When the aroma of tea filled the air, Zhang Yang sat at the top, looking at several medical insurance representatives led by Director Liu sitting around, and couldn't help but smile:

"Director Liu, I have seen many videos on Douyin where medical insurance representatives and pharmaceutical companies bargained for prices. I didn't expect that I would become the protagonist of the video today."

"I hope you will show mercy."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Yang's first sentence made Liu Weiguo feel a little embarrassed.

What Zhang Yang meant by bargaining is actually “group purchasing of medicines”.

In 2019, the Medical Insurance Bureau promoted drug procurement reform and proposed the concept of "drug procurement" for the first time.

Simply put, the National Healthcare Security Administration will release relevant drug procurement information and clarify the drug procurement quantity, and then negotiate with pharmaceutical companies through a centralized, exclusive, and volume-based procurement method.

This approach forced some pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of drugs that previously cost hundreds of yuan to tens or even a few yuan in order to be included in the centralized procurement list;

For example, the price of Gefitinib Tablets, which is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer, dropped from the initial 2280 yuan to 547 yuan after entering the centralized procurement, a price reduction of 69%.

For example, the price of cefuroxime granules, a common children's medicine, dropped from 26 yuan per box to 6.67 yuan per box after being included in the centralized procurement.

In addition, the prices of drugs such as amlodipine tablets and metformin tablets for treating hypertension and diabetes will also be reduced by about 60%.

but.

"Medical procurement" generally targets conventional medicines and medicines for chronic diseases, and most of them are generic drugs that can be produced by many domestic pharmaceutical companies.

What about "Acofenprovir" developed by Tsingshan Pharmaceutical?

The only drug in the world that can cure hepatitis B.

To put it bluntly, your medical insurance can choose whether to purchase it or not, and not purchasing it will not affect the sales of "Ekofovir".

Therefore, he knew very well in his mind that, let alone cutting the price to pieces like the "medical procurement", he would be thankful if he could negotiate the price to the psychological expectation.

Of course, these words were impossible to say.

As the negotiating representative of the Medical Insurance Bureau, although Qingshan Pharmaceutical has an absolute advantage in this negotiation and his side has no bargaining chips, his duty and responsibility is to overcome difficulties and try every possible way to lower the purchase price as much as possible. Thinking of this, Liu Weiguo squeezed out an awkward smile and did not give a direct answer.

"Mr. Zhang, you are joking."

"In fact, we don't want to bargain with pharmaceutical companies, but after all, this is our responsibility, there is nothing we can do."

Zhang Yang nodded slightly and said nothing more.

"I understand."

Seeing this, Liu Weiguo took a deep breath and changed the subject.

"Well, thank you for your understanding. Then, Mr. Zhang, let's get straight to the point."

"As you know, the main reason we are here today is for the drug 'Ikefenprofovir' that your company has just developed and can cure hepatitis B virus."

"As we all know, there are currently 1.2 million hepatitis B patients in our country, 80% of whom were born between 1980 and 1995. Currently, this group of people are between 30 and 45 years old. They have elderly parents and young children, and they are the backbone of every family."

"As time goes by, most of these people have been infected for more than ten or even twenty years, and the harm of the hepatitis B virus has gradually shown itself in them."

"Fortunately, you developed this drug that can cure hepatitis B in time. So, you not only saved this generation, but also saved tens of millions of families."

As he spoke, Liu Weiguo's expression became serious. He slowly stood up from his chair and bowed deeply to Zhang Yang.

"On behalf of all hepatitis B patients in the country, I would like to thank you for developing this drug that can cure hepatitis B. You have saved countless lives."

The sudden action made Zhang Yang stunned for a moment, but after hearing the words clearly, he couldn't help but feel warm in his heart.
He suddenly thought of the copy in the previous simulator - the fate of a generation.

Can this be considered as changing the fate of this generation?
Not only was Liu Weiguo's sudden action surprising, but even Zhou Hai, who was accompanying him, couldn't help but look at Liu Weiguo twice.

"You are too polite, Director Liu. Please take a seat and talk."

"Ah."

Under Zhang Yang's persuasion, Liu Weiguo sat back in his chair.

After sighing slightly, he took out a piece of paper from the briefcase he carried with him and placed it in front of Zhang Yang.

"In fact, the country has always attached great importance to the situation of hepatitis B patients in recent years."

"This is a 'statistical table of hepatitis B patients receiving outpatient treatment in the past ten years' that I got from the Statistics Department of the National Health Commission."

"First, let's look at the data before 2019, that is, before the 'centralized procurement of medicines' that you just mentioned. According to the statistics at that time, there were only 1000 million hepatitis B patients receiving treatment in regular hospitals across the country."

"There are 1.2 million patients, but only 1000 million receive treatment, less than one-tenth. Can you guess why?"

Zhang Yang looked down at the data and said nothing.

Seeing this, Liu Weiguo continued:
"If I remember correctly, the best drug for treating hepatitis B at that time was 'tenofovir disoproxil', which is tenofovir disoproxil. The original drug cost 999 yuan per box, and one box was taken per month."

"Even domestic generic drugs cost as much as 490 yuan at the time."

"According to the 'National Hepatitis B Prevention and Treatment Guidelines', hepatitis B patients need to undergo a follow-up examination every three months. The examination contents include liver function (biochemistry) and abdominal color Doppler ultrasound. The cost of these two examinations alone is nearly 300 yuan."

"Add to that the generic drugs that cost 490 yuan a box at the time, and the cost of the drugs plus the examinations for three months totaled 2000 yuan."

"Is 2000 yuan a lot for an average person in three months? I think you have your own answer."

……

PS: Thanks to QQ book friend Quan for the 100-coin reward!
(End of this chapter)