Healing powers

China's pharmaceutical sector got a booster this year as Beijing unveiled a US$124 billion health care reform plan. State media described the plan as being able to "lay a solid foundation for equitable and universal access to essential health care for all in China by 2020." The plan targets the building of a clinic in each village and a hospital in each county by 2011, while medical insurance will be bulked up by subsidies. It also features an updated essential drug list (EDL) - identifying medicines to be distributed to patients at a discount - and a national drug reimbursement list (NDRL) of drugs covered by medical insurance. The promised cash injection has considerably brightened the prospects for companies in the health care sector. The lists, too, while not representing direct investment, are likely to be a boon for large pharmaceutical firms. "The launch of the basic medicine catalog is a near-term catalyst for inexpensive brand generics," Beijing Gao Hua...

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