Communist China Bans GlaxoSmithKline and Promotes Generic Drugs

Communist China’s “National Organization of Drug Procurement Office” announced on October 31 that GlaxoSmithKline (Ireland Limited) (“GSK”) was disqualified from being selected for dutasteride capsules, and the company was listed in the “Violation List”, suspending the company’s qualification to participate in the centralized drug bulk-procurement activities organized by the state from October 31, 2022, to April 29, 2024. The announcement comes after China’s State Medical Products Administration announced on October 31 that it would suspend the import, sale and use of GSK’s dutasteride capsules with immediate effect.

According to media reports, China’s State Medical Products Administration recently inspected a batch of GSK’s prostate treatment drug (the chemical name is dutasteride, sold under the brand name Avodart) selected in the fifth batch of centralized drug bulk-procurement organized by the state, claiming that GSK has not carried out batch-by-batch and full-item inspections of products exported to China by the registration standards, and has deficiencies in the prevention and control of microbial contamination risks.

GSK’s drug was approved for import into China’s market in 2011, and it is currently the only imported drug in this category. GSK’s latest bidding won in China’s state-organized bulk-procurement project was in October 2021, and the procurement agreement expired at the end of October 2022..