The United States is increasingly reliant on Chinese drugs and urgently imports unapproved anti-cancer drugs from China | pharmaceuticals | the United States
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on July 24, under the background of the confrontation between the United States and China, the dependence of the United States on Chinese medicine has increased.
The report states that the demand for Chinese made pharmaceuticals in the United States has surged. Emergency imports of unapproved anti-cancer drugs continue to emerge, mostly drugs that directly affect the lives of patients. The value of pharmaceutical products imported from China by the United States in 2022 has increased several times from the previous year.
The Director of the US Food and Drug Administration, Robert Kaliff, tweeted in June that the import of foreign made anticancer drug "cisplatin" is temporarily allowed. The United States will urgently import this unapproved drug from China's Qilu Pharmaceutical Company.
The FDA announced this month that it will allow Qilu Pharmaceutical Company to add cisplatin exports to the United States. An FDA spokesperson explained, "Until approved pharmaceutical companies are able to produce drugs that meet the needs of all patients, they can only continue to import unapproved drugs."
According to reports, the value of pharmaceutical products imported from China by the United States in 2022 reached 10.3 billion US dollars, a significant increase compared to 2021. This year's import momentum has increased without decreasing.
The main additions are anti-cancer drugs, immunosuppressants, and drugs for treating circulatory system diseases. In the United States, the demand for cancer drugs is increasing, and the problem of drug shortages is becoming more prominent. The quality problems of drugs in Indian pharmaceutical factories, a major pharmaceutical country, have exacerbated the supply-demand situation. To fill the gap caused by this, the United States urgently increased imports of drugs produced by Chinese companies.
Niels Graham of the Atlantic Council of the United States explained, "The Chinese government is promoting the strengthening of the manufacturing of advanced pharmaceuticals, and high-quality drugs that can be immediately put into use are circulating worldwide." China accounted for 9.6% of US pharmaceutical imports in 2022, compared to approximately 1% before 2021.
The report states that Chinese drugs will continue to be highly popular in the future. A trade lawyer in Washington pointed out, "Medical professionals have found that Chinese drugs are cheap and expensive, and they may continue to choose to use them in the future."
The report also stated that relying on China in the medical field that concerns human life will bring risks in the field of security. US President Biden is concerned about this and signed an executive order in September 2022, calling for increased domestic drug production capacity. However, as this is not a mandatory measure for enterprises, the effectiveness of administrative orders is limited.
The US Congress has also begun to urge the government to take action. Democratic lawmakers proposed a bill on June 22nd to lower tariffs on pharmaceutical imports from allied countries in the United States. This is to facilitate competition between Japanese and European drugs and Chinese drugs in terms of price.