On the first day of the 2026 National Conference: Representatives from multiple companies couldn't hide their joy as traditional Chinese medicine and chronic disease medications took turns on stage.

The annual negotiation for the national medical insurance catalog has once again entered the stage of on-site bargaining. Today, the bidding and price negotiation for the 2026 National Basic Medical Insurance Drug Catalog and the Commercial Insurance Innovative Drug Catalog officially commenced at the National People's Congress Conference Center in Beijing. On-site reporters observed that, unlike previous years when traditional Chinese medicine companies typically debuted in the latter half of the negotiations, several Chinese medicine enterprises, including China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical (000999.SZ), GuangYuYuan Chinese Herbal Medicine (600771.SH), and Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical (600557.SH), took the lead in entering the venue this morning. Multiple classic Chinese medicine formulas are facing a significant test for insurance approval. In the afternoon session, representatives from more than twenty domestic and foreign companies, including Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (600276.SH), SUNSHINE PHARMA (06887), Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and INNOVENT BIO (01801), gathered to begin negotiations over new GLP-1 drugs, Alzheimers medications, and more. Industry insiders expect that the on-site negotiations for this round of national medical insurance catalog adjustments and commercial insurance innovative drug catalog price negotiations will last for 4 to 5 days. Chinese medicine companies "race to enter" the venue; overall atmosphere remains relaxed. Around 7 a.m., the outside of the National People's Congress Conference Center in Beijing was bustling with people. Corporate representatives in formal attire arrived early and began lining up to wait for entry. For many corporate representatives, this annual medical insurance negotiation serves both as a test of their products' clinical value and as a direct on-site competition that concerns subsequent market release. "We are from Shandong, and the negotiation for our submitted product is relatively straightforward. We can complete it this morning and do not need to attend the site again later," one corporate representative told reporters. The on-site reporters noted that some familiar "old faces" were present. During the previous twelfth round of the national organized drug centralized procurement live declarations in Shanghai, some corporate representatives had just appeared there and are now in Beijing for this national medical insurance catalog negotiation, resulting in a busy travel schedule for these companies. Around 8:00, on-site staff verified the lists in batches and guided corporate representatives into the venue accordingly. The on-site reporters observed that the morning session had a dense lineup, with a significant proportion of Chinese medicine enterprises. Representatives from companies such as China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical, GuangYuYuan Chinese Herbal Medicine, Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical, Tasly Pharmaceutical Group, and Qidu Pharmaceutical made appearances one after another. Additionally, ZAI LAB, North China Pharmaceutical, EVEREST MED, Qilu Pharmaceutical, CMS (00867), and Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry (600380.SH) also participated in the morning negotiations. From the products that have passed the formal review, multiple Chinese medicine varieties have entered the site on the first day. Among them, GuangYuYuan Chinese Herbal Medicine's Banxia Xiexin Decoction Granules, Tasly Pharmaceutical Group's Jujube Seed Tranquilizing Pill, and Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical's Shenpu Granules have all successfully passed the formal review. It is noteworthy that some companies are involved with multiple varieties. The reporters found that Qidu Pharmaceutical is involved with compound glucose/electrolyte brain surgery irrigation solutions, low-calcium peritoneal dialysis fluid series, and Qingjin Huatan Decoction Granules; Jiangxi Yaodu Zhangshu Pharmaceutical is involved with Erdong Decoction Granules and Qingfei Decoction Granules; China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical is involved with Taoxin Chengqi Decoction Granules, Banxia Baizhu Tianma Decoction Granules, and Dajianzhong Decoction Paste; Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical is involved with Xie Bai San Granules and Shenpu Granules. In addition to traditional Chinese medicine varieties, some innovative drugs are also appearing this morning. For example, Nanjing Kechuang Pharmaceutical is involved with Acetate of Vonoprazan Injection Concentrate, and North China Pharmaceutical is involved with Omalizumab Injection. In recent years, with the continuous layout of innovative traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, and classic formulas, more and more Chinese medicine companies are participating in the national medical insurance catalog competition. Based on the onsite arrangements of the first day compared to previous years' national negotiation schedules, the rhythm for traditional Chinese medicine companies to engage in on-site negotiations seems to have moved earlier. Around 8:55, the first batch of companies quickly completed negotiations and began to exit the venue. The on-site reporters noted that representatives from China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical and two other companies left the negotiations in a hurry, without pausing to respond to media inquiries about the negotiation situation. After waiting for their vehicles to arrive, they quickly exited the scene. However, some representatives showed noticeable emotional changes as they left the venue. "Im quite nervous; Im sweating," one corporate representative casually remarked to reporters right after exiting the venue. Another representative, as he left the venue, cheerfully gave a "thumbs up" gesture to the waiting crowd, unable to hide his delight, and then boarded a waiting vehicle to leave. Notably, around noon, although one corporate negotiation representative left the venue later, they immediately burst into laughter upon exiting the door, seemingly pleased with the result after lengthy negotiations. On-site sources indicated that this representative was from EVEREST MED. This year, EVEREST MED's arginine acylmorphine tablets and injection of hydrochloride eravacycline are vying for inclusion in the insurance catalog, while budesonide enteric-coated capsules need to be renewed for inclusion on the catalog. Around 1 p.m., corporate representatives again began to gather outside the National Peoples Congress Conference Center, with the previously calm venue outside lining up once more. The on-site reporters observed that representatives from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, SUNSHINE PHARMA, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, INNOVENT BIO, SIMCERE PHARMA (02096), CSPC PHARMA (01093), Zhejiang Jingxin Pharmaceutical, and Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd. arrived one after another, entering the venue sequentially after verification of their identities. According to the incomplete statistics from the reporters, about 20 companies participated in the afternoon negotiations. Unlike the morning session where traditional Chinese medicine enterprises presented their classic formulas, the afternoon entrants seemed to focus more on chronic disease medications. Among them, SUNSHINE PHARMA was involved with Ipragliflozin, Pfizer was involved with the weight-loss diabetes dual-indication new drug Emenoglutide Injection, and Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd. (000766.SZ) had its first-class innovative Alzheimer's drug Succinic Acid Anviqirin Tablets successfully pass the initial review. A total of 601 medical insurance varieties have passed formal review. "Pre-communication" is pushing the arrangement of the national negotiations forward. The National Healthcare Security Administration previously disclosed that there were a total of 664 drug name applications for the adjustment of the 2026 basic medical insurance catalog, with 601 ultimately passing the formal review. Among these, 368 are outside the catalog, and 233 are within it; for the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog, there were 62 drug name applications, 58 of which passed the formal review, with 57 outside the catalog and 1 within it. On July 31, the National Healthcare Security Administration notified companies of the interim results from the expert review stage, and some drugs entered the "proposed negotiation additions," "proposed bidding additions," and "proposed price negotiations" stages, although detailed information on the expert review pass rate was not publicly disclosed. With the commencement of on-site work today, this round of national negotiations has officially entered the stage of on-site negotiation and consultation. From the preliminary review list, many leading domestic innovative drug companies, including Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical (688506.SH), Keji Pharmaceutical (02171), BeOne Medicines Ltd. (688235.SH), Sunshine Guojian Pharmaceutical (688336.SH), and Zhixiang Jintai (688443.SH), have submitted applications, featuring significant products in popular areas such as ADC, dual antibodies, CAR-T, autoimmune diseases, and GLP-1. An on-site corporate representative told reporters, "We are a newly approved drug and participated in the previous pre-communication meeting." As the representative stated, this year's national negotiations have a distinct institutional feature: the approval nodes have been fully moved forward, marking the quiet arrival of the "negotiating medical insurance before market launch" era. In February 2026, the National Medical Insurance Administration issued the "Drug Pre-Communication Guidelines (Trial)," and by the end of March, they received the first batch of pre-communication materials from 27 companies for 31 innovative drugs; the second batch of 28 drugs was subsequently completed for verification, resulting in a total of 59 innovative drugs clearly establishing price calculation "anchors" even before formal negotiations began. Meanwhile, the newly introduced pre-application mechanism this year allows innovative drugs that have completed technical reviews but have not yet received formal approval to participate in applications in advance, continuously advancing the timeline for companies' layouts concerning medical insurance, pushing insurance approvals even closer to pre-approval and R&D stages. Industry insiders told reporters: "This year's national negotiations, modeled after the drug pre-communication guidelines, essentially corrects the previous mismatch between review and approval timeframes and medical insurance access. It enables companies to have clear pricing calculation expectations before entering negotiations, reducing the unpredictability of on-site bargaining and making it easier for genuinely clinically valuable innovative drugs to secure reasonable pricing." Additionally, according to the 2026 national negotiation plan, companies can apply concurrently for the basic medical insurance catalog and the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog, or separately for the commercial catalog; products submitted simultaneously will negotiate for medical insurance first, and if unsuccessful, they will then negotiate for commercial insurance. High clinical values but temporarily exceeding the "basic coverage" designation for innovative drugs still have the opportunity to enter the commercial insurance catalog. Moreover, Huang Xinyu, Director of the Medical Service Management Department of the National Healthcare Security Administration, previously stated at a meeting interpreting the national negotiation work plan that high-value innovative drugs are encouraged to prioritize applications for the commercial insurance catalog during the early listing phase, "Once inside the commercial insurance catalog, there is always the possibility of transitioning to basic medical insurance." This also implies that clinically valuable but temporarily exceeding the "basic coverage" designation innovative drugs can gradually transition through the "commercial insurance first, medical insurance following" approach, expanding more payment space for innovative drugs. The on-site negotiation and bidding for this round of national medical insurance catalog adjustments and the price negotiations for commercial insurance innovative drugs will continue for 4 to 5 days, with the new catalog expected to be published by the end of November and implemented officially on January 1 of the following year. The reporters will continue to report live from the national negotiations. This article is sourced from "Cailian Press," authored by Yu Miao and Lu Afeng, edited by Chen Qiuda.