Qilu Pharmaceutical Enters the Market with Olmesartan Medoxomil Tablets, a National Volume-Based Procurement Product

Text | Feng Qiu

On June 17, Qilu Pharmaceutical’s new Class 4 generic drug, Olmesartan Medoxomil Tablets, was approved for marketing by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of hypertension, and is deemed to have passed the consistency evaluation.

Olmesartan medoxomil belongs to the class of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). As a commonly used antihypertensive medication, olmesartan medoxomil tablets were selected as one of the 32 drug varieties included in the second batch of national volume-based procurement (VBP) organized by the Chinese government. In January this year, four companies won the bids at low prices: HEC Pharm (RMB 0.11 per tablet), Salubris (RMB 0.69 per tablet), Nanjing Chia Tai Tianqing (RMB 1.268 per tablet), and Beijing Fuyuan Pharmaceutical (RMB 1.7471 per tablet). According to data from PharmaCube’s PharmaGo, these four companies had previously passed the consistency evaluation for olmesartan medoxomil tablets, with Qilu Pharmaceutical being the fifth company to pass this evaluation for the same product.

However, during the implementation of the second batch of national centralized drug procurement, HEC Pharm encountered minor challenges with its olmesartan medoxomil tablets. In March, Shanghai announced that the nationwide second batch of volume-based procurement would be officially implemented starting April 20. On April 10, the Shanghai Sunshine Pharmaceutical Procurement Network issued a notice stating that, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply shortages and delivery delays might occur during the initial phase of implementation for four selected varieties among the 32 winners of the second national centralized procurement: olmesartan medoxomil tablets, ambrisentan tablets, macrogol 4000 powder, and levocetirizine hydrochloride tablets. It was estimated that the production capacity for olmesartan medoxomil would gradually recover in June, ensuring normal supply.

Currently, in the domestic market, in addition to the aforementioned companies that have passed the consistency evaluation, four other companies—Chengdu Better Pharmaceutical, Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, Ausome Pharmaceutical, and Zhuhai Rundu Pharmaceutical—are in the process of submitting applications deemed equivalent for consistency evaluation.