To expedite the new drug review process, the NHIA has allocated a budget of NT$200 million to establish the Center for Health Policy and Technology Assessment (CHPTA). The new agency is set to be officially inaugurated on January 1st, with the objective of reducing the NHI listing review time from 13 months to 6 months.

Dr Hsueh Jui-Yuan, the MOHW Minister, expressed that the NHI plays a pivotal role in fostering social stability; therefore, he does not endorse the notion of a complete overhaul of the NHI as it would cause social panic.  Dr Hsueh claimed that there will not be a 3rd generation of the NHI.  Instead, the focus will be on continuous improvements and reforms, particularly in the realm of drug pricing policies.  The establishment of the CHPTA is one of the major improvement projects.  The NHIA’s next move is to implement the “temporary payment scheme”.

Dr Shih Chung-Liang, the Director-General of the NHIA, expressed that the “temporary payment scheme” provides a 2-year NHI listing for new drugs which still require more evidences to prove their efficacy or could potentially have a significant impact on NHI finances.  The CHPTA will be in charge of collecting relevant data to facilitate expert assessments.

Dr Shih highlighted that in the past, all new drugs were required to obtain a license before applying for NHI listing. The introduction of the parallel submission mechanism now enables drug companies to apply for new drug approval and NHI listing at the same time.  With this mechanism, newly approved drugs can attain NHI listing status just six months after receiving their license.

In the upcoming year, the parallel submission mechanism will be made available for 5 major drug categories, including those granted with TFDA’s priority review designation, accelerated review designation, paediatric drugs, drugs for rare severe diseases and news drugs not yet launched in other countries.

【2023-12-28 / United Daily News】