A large number of traditional Chinese medicines are expected to exit the market. The industry believes that the main affected ones are the "zombie" approved varieties.

Recently, a report about a large number of traditional Chinese medicines withdrawing from the market has been circulating in the market. The report stated that according to Article 75 of the "Special Regulations for the Registration and Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicines" issued by the National Medical Products Administration, commonly known in the industry as the "life and death clause" for traditional Chinese medicines, any traditional Chinese medicine that still indicates "unclear" for any of the following information in its instructions - contraindications, adverse reactions, precautions - will not be approved for registration after three full years of implementation starting from July 1, 2023. This means that more than 70% of the existing about 57,000 traditional Chinese medicines with valid approval numbers in China, which have safety information labeling issues, will face elimination. Is the situation truly like this? Some industry insiders interviewed tend to believe that this policy will affect more "zombie" varieties with approval numbers, but have not been produced or sold for a long time, lacking post-market surveillance of drug alertness and adverse reaction monitoring data. Currently, the investment required to make up for these deficiencies is relatively large, and some pharmaceutical companies may choose to give up on re-registration after weighing the economic benefits.