(Yicai Global) Nov. 8 -- Switzerland’s Novartis, Germany’s Bayer and France’s Sanofi are among the global pharmaceutical giants that have penned deals worth a combined CNY47 billion (USD7.3 billion) with the Chinese government department that oversees the country’s medicine and apparatus centralized procurement program at the ongoing 4th China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

It is the first time that the National Healthcare Security Administration, which also runs the country’s medical insurance program, has gone on a shopping spree at the CIIE and indicates that the government is pro importing foreign medicines and medical consumables, Yicai Global noted.

Products purchased, such as heart stents and artificial limbs, are those that have already won the bidding for the bulk-buy program, which gives the products access to the country’s vast medical insurance scheme. It is not known if they were bought with the same huge discounts.

The NHSA has introduced a great many foreign drugs and medical consumables into the nationwide healthcare system through its centralized procurement scheme, which aims to cut the cost of generic and patented medicines and apparatus through economy-of-scale buying, thereby easing the financial burden on patients.

Editor: Kim Taylor