Impacts of adjustment of National Reimbursement Drug List on orphan drugs volume and spending in China: an interrupted time series analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impacts of the 2017 adjustment of National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) on orphan drugs hospital procurement volumes and spending in China. DESIGN: We used an interrupted time series design covering the period from 2016 to 2018 to analyse changes in hospital procurement volumes and spending of orphan drugs for which were included in the 2017 NRDL. SETTING AND DATA: The study was conducted in China. Orphan drug procurement data of 789 public hospitals (594 tertiary hospitals and 195 secondary hospitals) were derived from the Chinese Medical Economic Information (CMEI). OUTCOME MEASURES: Monthly orphan drugs hospital procurement volumes and spending. RESULTS: Nine orphan drugs were included in the 2017 NRDL (seven were directly included, and two were included after price negotiation). Comparing to orphan drugs not included in the NRDL, hospital procurement volumes ([Formula: see text] =43 312, p<0.001) and spending ([Formula: see text] =6 48 927, p<0.001) of the nine included drugs showed significant upward trends after implementation of the 2017 NRDL adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the 2017 adjustment of NRDL significantly changed the usage and spending on certain orphan drugs. The increase in orphan drug hospital procurement volumes should improve rare disease patients’ access to these orphan drugs.