Record high! What signals are released by the inclusion of 51 Class 1 innovative drugs in the new edition of the medical insurance catalog?

Today, at the "2026 High-Quality Development Conference for Innovative Drugs" held in Suzhou, the adjustment results for the 2026 National Basic Medical Insurance Drug Catalog and the Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug Catalog were officially announced. The basic medical insurance catalog newly included 107 drugs, of which 51 are Class 1 innovative drugs, a record high; the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog newly included 12 drugs, bringing the total to 28. At the same time, two drugs previously included in the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog were further included in basic medical insurance this year, and CAR-T products also achieved basic medical insurance access for the first time. From multiple blockbuster innovative drugs being "approved in the same year and included in the same year" to the four departments jointly issuing a document to promote innovative drugs' hospital access and clinical use, this year's catalog adjustment releases multiple signals, including support for innovative pharmaceuticals. As the linkage mechanism between the medical insurance and commercial insurance "dual catalogs" is gradually established and shows practical results, support for innovative drugs is accelerating from catalog access to medical institution provisioning, clinical use, and other links. 107 drugs newly added; multiple blockbuster innovative drugs achieve "approved in the same year, included in the same year" This morning, a Cailian Press reporter learned at the conference that while 107 drugs were newly included, this round of National Medical Insurance Drug Catalog adjustment also removed 34 drugs that are no longer supplied clinically or can be better replaced by other drugs. After the adjustment, the total number of drugs in the National Medical Insurance Drug Catalog increased to 3,331, including 1,935 Western medicines and 1,396 Chinese patent medicines. From the overall process of this year's national negotiations, this round of basic medical insurance catalog adjustment received a total of 800 declaration submissions, involving 664 generic drug names, of which 601 passed formal review, including 368 drugs outside the catalog and 233 drugs within the catalog. After expert review, payment standard calculation, on-site negotiations, bidding, and other stages, the adjustment result of 107 newly added drugs was ultimately formed. From the final inclusion results, the newly added drugs cover multiple clinical fields such as oncology, rare diseases, chronic diseases, mental illness, and pediatric drugs. They involve treatment areas with relatively concentrated patient demand and further supplement the supply of some drugs for clinical needs that have not yet been fully met. Wang Li, deputy director of the Work Injury Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at the conference that this round of catalog adjustment adhered to the functional positioning of basic medical insurance in "guaranteeing basic needs," did what was possible while staying within means, and adhered to prioritizing clinical value, focusing on including innovative drugs with clear clinical benefits and excellent economic evaluations, while steadily removing varieties with strong clinical substitutability and low frequency of use. Among the newly included drugs, multiple representative innovative drugs deserve attention. Among them, the world's first approved bispecific ADC drug, Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical's (688506.SH) lencongyilongton monoclonal antibody for injection, entered the basic medical insurance catalog this time; INNOVENT BIO's (01801) picankibart monoclonal antibody was included. This is China's first independently developed IL-23p19 inhibitor and will benefit patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; Merck's pimitespib capsules, UCB's bimekizumab injection and rozanolixizumab injection, among others, also obtained access in this round of adjustment. In the chronic disease field, INNOVENT BIO's mazdutide was included for the type 2 diabetes indication, and SUNSHINE PHARMA's (06887) independently developed Class 1 innovative glucose-lowering drug, orforglipron capsules, was also successfully included, achieving approval and marketing in the same year and entry into medical insurance in the same year. Among the newly added varieties in this round, there are also multiple distinctive Class 1 innovative drugs. For example, Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharmaceutical Industry Co,Ltd's (000766.SZ) amivudine succinate tablets are used to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease; Wuhan Healthgen Biotechnology's recombinant human albumin injection (rice) is the world's first plant-derived recombinant human albumin drug, produced through a rice expression system; Jinsai Pharma's independently developed fuxinkibart monoclonal antibody is used for the treatment of acute attacks of gouty arthritis in adults; InnoCare Pharma's (688428.SH) independently developed next-generation TRK inhibitor Yinuoxin (zurletrectinib) is used to treat adult and adolescent solid tumor patients aged 12 and above carrying NTRK fusion genes. In addition, all five indications of HENLIUS's (02696) PD-1 product Hansizhuang entered medical insurance, among which the perioperative "chemotherapy-free" regimen for gastric cancer was approved and marketed in June this year, achieving inclusion in the same year as approval. The continuous expansion of the medical insurance catalog is also changing the market accessibility of innovative drugs. Yu Dechao, founder, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of INNOVENT BIO, said in a speech at the conference that the company has launched 20 new drugs over the past more than ten years, of which 17 have been included in the National Medical Insurance Catalog, benefiting more than 20 million patients cumulatively. In his view, the annual dynamic adjustment of the medical insurance catalog and the priority access mechanism for innovative drugs have greatly shortened the cycle for innovative drugs from approval and marketing to entry into medical insurance. Through strategic value-based purchasing, medical insurance not only allows patients to use good drugs earlier, but also enables enterprises to obtain reasonable and stable returns on R&D investment, thereby feeding back into original innovation. "Inclusion in national medical insurance in the first year of launch lets us truly feel the National Healthcare Security Administration's proactive action and sense of responsibility in enabling innovative drugs with breakthrough efficacy to quickly benefit the broad patient population, and we deeply feel the national policy's genuine support for original innovation," said Zhu Yi, founder and chairman of Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical. Zhang Yingjun, chairman of SUNSHINE PHARMA, also told a Cailian Press reporter that orforglipron achieving approval and medical insurance inclusion in the same year would not have been possible without national medical insurance policy support for domestically developed innovative drugs. This provides important assistance for innovative achievements to reach patients faster and helps meet the actual treatment needs of diabetes patients. In addition, regarding the linkage between the medical insurance and commercial insurance "dual catalogs," JW Therapeutics' (02126) relmacabtagene autoleucel injection and Shandong New Times Pharmaceutical's sapropterin hydrochloride tablets had previously entered the commercial insurance innovative drug catalog and were successfully included in the basic medical insurance drug catalog this year, initially forming a transformation path from commercial insurance exploratory coverage to further linkage with basic medical insurance. Support policies continue to intensify, accelerating the "last mile" of innovative drug implementation For innovative drugs, inclusion in the medical insurance catalog does not mean the end of market access work. Whether drugs can smoothly enter hospitals, whether doctors are willing to use them, and whether medical insurance payment policies can connect with clinical diagnosis and treatment still directly affect whether patients can ultimately obtain treatment. With the announcement of the 2026 medical insurance and commercial insurance "dual catalogs," support policies for innovative drugs are also extending further from the access side to the clinical use side. At the conference, Zhang Ke, director of the National Healthcare Security Administration, said that medical insurance policies supporting pharmaceutical innovation will continue to intensify in six aspects, including providing stable and reliable funding support, building a scientific and reasonable price system, establishing objective and fair evaluation standards, improving payment policies, providing true and accurate data, and integrating more payment channels. Regarding the connection between access and clinical application, Zhang Ke also disclosed that the National Healthcare Security Administration will promote pre-hospital entry of new drugs in the catalog. Recently, the National Healthcare Security Administration will work with some universities to carry out "medical, pharmaceutical, insurance, and academic" face-to-face activities in 12 cities to promote innovative technologies and the latest achievements into hospitals, pharmacies, prescriptions, and classrooms. At the same time, the National Health Commission, the National Healthcare Security Administration, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration recently jointly issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Safe and Rational Provision and Use of Innovative Drugs" (referred to as the "Notice"), further opening up the implementation path for innovative drugs from links such as medical institution provisioning, clinical use, and payment management. The Notice requires medical institutions at Level II and above to optimize the hospital entry process for innovative drugs and promptly include them in medication catalogs according to diagnosis and treatment needs; it also clarifies that Class 1 new drugs in the two catalogs are not counted under "one product, two specifications" and are not included in performance monitoring indicators such as the growth rate of average drug costs per outpatient visit and per hospitalization. For cases in which innovative drugs in the medical insurance catalog are not suitable for payment under disease-based payment standards, special case single-case review may be declared; cases related to drugs in the commercial insurance catalog may also be excluded from the scope of medical insurance disease-based payment and paid after review and evaluation. The above arrangements directly address the practical obstacles in hospital entry and clinical use of innovative drugs, reducing medical institutions' institutional concerns about introducing and using innovative drugs by optimizing hospital provisioning mechanisms, adjusting performance assessment indicators, and improving payment methods. Local medical insurance departments are also vigorously promoting the transition of innovative drugs from catalog access to clinical use. Jiang Jiayi, senior director of government affairs and market access at Dizal Pharma (688192.SH), told a Cailian Press reporter that before the company's two innovative drugs were launched, the medical insurance departments of Jiangsu Province and Wuxi City collected product review and approval progress in advance and provided special training on medical insurance coding, online listing declarations, and other matters; after obtaining medical insurance codes, the two products were listed online in Jiangsu through the innovative drug green channel. During the National Medical Insurance Catalog access process, the Jiangsu Provincial Healthcare Security Administration also provided special counseling on negotiation access and, during the implementation stage of nationally negotiated drugs, organized tripartite joint meetings among enterprises, medical insurance departments, and medical institutions to track hospital access progress. Jiang Jiayi disclosed that in the first year after the company's two independently developed Class I anti-tumor new drugs entered medical insurance, sales revenue exceeded RMB800 million, a year-on-year increase of 123%. In the view of Zhou Weichang, chief technology officer of Yilian Biotechnology, the realization of the value of innovative drugs does not stop at successful R&D or entry into the medical insurance catalog; subsequent production supply and quality assurance are equally important. He told a Cailian Press reporter that drugs require a long cycle from R&D to marketing, and enterprises must not only continuously improve pharmaceutical R&D capabilities but also establish production systems and supply chain capabilities that meet international standards to ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of drugs after entering medical insurance. Only by forming complete capabilities in product R&D, production supply, and market access can innovative drugs truly be transformed into accessible treatment options for patients. For enterprises, catalog adjustment is only the starting point, and they also need to proactively carry out clinical communication, academic support, and drug supply assurance. Zhang Ru, vice president of Roche Pharma China, told a Cailian Press reporter that recently the four ministries and commissions used supervision and scheduling to promote the implementation of priority procurement of Class 1 new drugs, opening up the key last mile from "catalog" to "clinical practice." After the release of the new medical insurance catalog, the company will continue to work with government departments at all levels and medical institutions to promote the smooth implementation of relevant innovative drugs in medical institutions nationwide and to provide academic support and supply assurance, so that policy support can be further transformed into patient benefits. This article is reproduced from Cailian Press, authors: Lu Afeng, Yu Miao; GMTEight editor: Chen Yufeng.