An increase in tariffs and the Most-Favoured-Nation drug pricing policy implemented by the Trump administration have pushed pharmaceutical companies to focus on more profitable markets, resulting in the marginalisation of lower-priced markets, including Taiwan. There is growing concern about delays in the introduction of new drugs in Taiwan. Experts have urged the government to take action to accelerate patients’ access to new treatments. With a view to safeguarding patients’ medication rights and health, some experts have proposed a policy blueprint outlining four key directions: expanding the new drug budget, reforming the pricing and reimbursement system, improving review efficiency, and establishing key performance indicators (KPIs).
The Taiwan Society of Regulatory Affairs for Medical Products (TSRAP) organised a conference to discuss the “challenges and prospects of health policy in Taiwan, with a focus on improving access to new drugs and enhancing national competitiveness.” Dr Kang Jaw-Jou, President of TSRAP, highlighted the important role that high-quality medicines play in treatment and expressed hope that the government would accelerate the introduction of new drugs to benefit patients.
According to Dr Kang, Taiwan is currently facing both internal and external challenges in the introduction of new drugs. Externally, the Trump administration’s high tariffs and most-favoured-nation drug pricing policy have prompted international pharmaceutical companies to focus on more profitable markets to offset high R&D costs, which accounted for 25.2% of total sales in 2024. As a result, lower-priced markets have been marginalised. At present, Taiwan is not considered a particularly attractive market due to its low growth rate, which may in turn affect the introduction of innovative drugs.
Internally, Taiwan has a relatively low ratio of new drug expenditure to GDP, indicating room for improvement. The National Health Insurance (NHI) drug fee structure is a key contributing factor, as too many resources are allocated to off-patent old drugs and too few to patented innovative medicines. It is therefore essential to optimise this structure by encouraging originator pharmaceutical companies to introduce new drugs, while shifting the supply of off-patent old drugs to local generic manufacturers. Such measures would help improve access to new drugs and strengthen supply resilience.
Dr Kang cited Japan as an example. While increasing total pharmaceutical expenditure, the Japanese government has optimised resource allocation by redirecting spending from off-patent drugs to single-source innovative medicines. He urged the government to formulate a policy blueprint to facilitate the introduction of new drugs into Taiwan. This blueprint should focus on optimising the budget structure, increasing funding for new drugs, setting annual growth targets, reducing reliance on older drugs, reallocating resources toward innovative treatments, reforming the drug pricing and reimbursement system, and establishing a science-based pricing mechanism.
With regard to the introduction of new drugs, it is essential to strike a balance between accessibility and affordability. The government should also improve review efficiency. The industry has high expectations for the establishment of the Center for Health Policy and Medical Technology Assessment, which could help ensure independent reviews and support a scientific approach to both drug evaluation and National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement decisions.
Finally, policies aimed at facilitating the introduction of new drugs should be supported by clearly defined key performance indicators (KPIs). These may include the waiting time for NHI listing, the NHI reimbursement coverage rate, total new drug expenditure and its proportion, patients’ health outcomes, average life expectancy, and the proportion of unhealthy life expectancy. These indicators should be made publicly available to ensure transparency and to support timely patient access to innovative treatments.
【2026-04-12 / United Daily】
