Discontinued Hemorrhoid Drug Taining Suppository Sees Price Surge of 38x Following Voluntary Deregistration

Recently, the National Medical Products Administration announced the cancellation of registration certificates for 80 drugs including Loratadine Tablets.Among them, the well-known hemorrhoid medicine Compound Carrageenate Suppository (brand name "Taining") that was discontinued in November 2023 once attracted attention due to a significant price increase.Plug"") is listed.

According to the specific directory published by the National Medical Products Administration, the cancellation status of these 80 drugs is"Cancellation upon Application"In addition to Taoning Suppositories, another hemorrhoid medication produced by Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xian Janssen"), Compound Carrageenate Cream, is also on this list of deregistrations.

On October 21, reporters noticed that although it has been out of production for two years, some e-commerce platforms still sell Tai Ning Suppositories, but at a higher price and in limited quantities.For example, the JD App shows,Multiple pharmacies 3.4g × 6 pieces/boxTainingshuThe price ranges from 856 to 966 yuan, 3.4g.×The lowest price for 12 tablets/box is 1600 yuan.A pharmacy customer service representative told reporters that they have in stockTaining SuppositoryExpiration DateApril 2026。

On October 21, reporters called the customer service of Xian Janssen, and the staff stated that the company had stopped the production and market supply of Tai Ning Suppositories in 2023. The validity period of this medicine is36 MonthsCurrently, drugs within their validity period available on the market can be sold normally, and the retail price is determined by the retailer based on market strategy, operating costs, competitive environment, and actual business conditions.

In April last year, Tai Ning Suppositories gained attention due to shortages and price increases. According to previous media reports, on multiple e-commerce platforms,Specification: 3.4g×The price of Compound Carrageenate Suppositories, 6 pieces/box, ranges from 268 to 466 yuan.

According toChina MedicineAccording to the information from the Information Inquiry Platform in March 2023, the market price of Tai Ning Suppositories ranges from 23 to 68 yuan.At the current market median price of approximately 900 yuan, this is already more than 38 times higher than its previous selling price of 23 yuan.

As for the reason of the shortage, Xian Janssen mentioned in its response to customer communication letters,Due to the main active ingredient of the raw material, Compound Carrageenate, being naturally extracted and non-renewable, there is no sustainable supply of the raw material available globally for production.Therefore, Xian Janssen stopped the supply of Taining Suppositories in November 2023.

Public information shows that Taiphen Suppository was introduced to the Chinese market by Xian Janssen in 2001. As an exclusive product of Xian Janssen, it once ranked among the top five in China's hemorrhoid sales market after its launch, but later fell behind due to its price being higher than those produced in China.Ma Ying LongHemorrhoid cream and other branded products, coupled with the lack of significant treatment advantages, eventually "lost out" in the fierce market competition. Data from the CKCMH-CHIS system shows that in the out-of-hospital market, the sales of Taining Suppositories in 2021-2023 were 70 million yuan, 78 million yuan, and 77 million yuan, respectively.

Source: Red Star News