On December 7, the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security issued the National Basic Medical Insurance, Maternity Insurance and Work-related Injury Insurance Drug List (hereinafter referred to as the "NRDL") and the Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug List (2025) (hereinafter referred to as the "Commercial Innovative Drug List"). The 2025 NRDL adds 114 drugs and removes 29 drugs. The first edition of the Commercial Innovative Drug List includes 19 drugs, covering CAR T-cell therapy products and multiple drugs for rare disease treatment.
This NRDL update adds 114 drugs, including 50 Class 1 innovative drugs, while removing 29 drugs that are clinically unavailable or better replaced by alternatives (9 of which have other dosage forms containing the same active ingredient that remain in the NRDL, which means that the numbers for the active ingredients are still in the NRDL). After adjustment, the total number of drugs in the NRDL increases to 3,253, including 1,857 western medicines and 1,396 Chinese patent medicines. Coverage in key areas such as oncology, chronic diseases, mental health, rare diseases, and pediatrics has been significantly enhanced. Traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces within the NRDL remain unchanged at 892 items.
The 114 newly added drugs include oncology drugs, such as Fulzerasib Tablets and Glecirasib Citrate Tablets, rare disease treatment drugs, such as Luvometinib Tablets for Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Deferiprone Tablets for thalassemia, as well as Chinese patent medicines, including Qifang Bitong Tablets, Yangxue Qufeng Zhitong Granules, and Yunvjian Granules.
The new NRDL takes effect on January 1, 2026. The notification of the said authorities requires active promotion of newly added drugs into hospitals. It requires that healthcare facilities designated for basic medical insurance, healthcare facilities under work-related injury insurance agreements, and facilities under work-related injury rehabilitation agreements should, in principle, convene pharmaceutical affairs meetings by the end of February 2026, promptly adjust drug procurement according to needs or establish temporary green channels for procurement to ensure clinical diagnosis and treatment needs and patients' reasonable medication rights. Successfully negotiated drugs may not be subject to "one product, two varieties" restrictions (procuring at most 2 varieties of injection drugs and 2 varieties of orally taken drugs that are under a same generic name, and 1~2 compound preparations whose prescribed compositions are similar) during the agreement terms and shall not be affected by total medical insurance budget restrictions, healthcare facilities' drug list quantity restrictions, or drug-to-total medical cost ratios in their adoption. Local authorities are encouraged to take proactive measures to promote the connection between successfully negotiated drugs and designated medical and pharmaceutical institutions.
The Commercial Innovative Drug List, introduced for the first time this year, includes 19 drugs, including CAR T-cell therapy products, such as Axicabtagene Injection and Relmacabtagene Autoleucel Injection, rare disease treatment drugs, such as Velaglucerase Beta for Injection for Gaucher's disease and Dinutuximab Beta Injection for neuroblastoma, as well as Lecanemab Injection for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
The notification states that drugs on the Commercial Innovative Drug List are not reimbursed by the basic medical insurance fund and are not included in the basic medical insurance self-payment ratio indicator of healthcare facilities designated for basic medical insurance, nor in the monitoring scope for substitute products of centralized procurement winning drugs. Application cases of innovative drugs in the Commercial Innovative Drug List within the coverage scope of relevant commercial health insurance may not be included in the scope of medical insurance payment by a certain category of disease and shall be paid after audit and evaluation procedures. Healthcare security authorities in various provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) may explore supporting retail pharmacies designated for basic medical insurance in procuring drugs within the Commercial Innovative Drug List, and should conduct proper terminal price monitoring at healthcare facilities and retail pharmacies. Commercial insurance institutions are encouraged to design new products, update coverage scopes, and adjust payment approaches based on the Commercial Innovative Drug List to better meet patients' medication needs and effectively reduce patients' medical expense burden. Regions with appropriate conditions are encouraged to explore "one-stop" settlement for medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, and commercial insurance.
This NRDL update adds 114 drugs, including 50 Class 1 innovative drugs, while removing 29 drugs that are clinically unavailable or better replaced by alternatives (9 of which have other dosage forms containing the same active ingredient that remain in the NRDL, which means that the numbers for the active ingredients are still in the NRDL). After adjustment, the total number of drugs in the NRDL increases to 3,253, including 1,857 western medicines and 1,396 Chinese patent medicines. Coverage in key areas such as oncology, chronic diseases, mental health, rare diseases, and pediatrics has been significantly enhanced. Traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces within the NRDL remain unchanged at 892 items.
The 114 newly added drugs include oncology drugs, such as Fulzerasib Tablets and Glecirasib Citrate Tablets, rare disease treatment drugs, such as Luvometinib Tablets for Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Deferiprone Tablets for thalassemia, as well as Chinese patent medicines, including Qifang Bitong Tablets, Yangxue Qufeng Zhitong Granules, and Yunvjian Granules.
The new NRDL takes effect on January 1, 2026. The notification of the said authorities requires active promotion of newly added drugs into hospitals. It requires that healthcare facilities designated for basic medical insurance, healthcare facilities under work-related injury insurance agreements, and facilities under work-related injury rehabilitation agreements should, in principle, convene pharmaceutical affairs meetings by the end of February 2026, promptly adjust drug procurement according to needs or establish temporary green channels for procurement to ensure clinical diagnosis and treatment needs and patients' reasonable medication rights. Successfully negotiated drugs may not be subject to "one product, two varieties" restrictions (procuring at most 2 varieties of injection drugs and 2 varieties of orally taken drugs that are under a same generic name, and 1~2 compound preparations whose prescribed compositions are similar) during the agreement terms and shall not be affected by total medical insurance budget restrictions, healthcare facilities' drug list quantity restrictions, or drug-to-total medical cost ratios in their adoption. Local authorities are encouraged to take proactive measures to promote the connection between successfully negotiated drugs and designated medical and pharmaceutical institutions.
The Commercial Innovative Drug List, introduced for the first time this year, includes 19 drugs, including CAR T-cell therapy products, such as Axicabtagene Injection and Relmacabtagene Autoleucel Injection, rare disease treatment drugs, such as Velaglucerase Beta for Injection for Gaucher's disease and Dinutuximab Beta Injection for neuroblastoma, as well as Lecanemab Injection for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
The notification states that drugs on the Commercial Innovative Drug List are not reimbursed by the basic medical insurance fund and are not included in the basic medical insurance self-payment ratio indicator of healthcare facilities designated for basic medical insurance, nor in the monitoring scope for substitute products of centralized procurement winning drugs. Application cases of innovative drugs in the Commercial Innovative Drug List within the coverage scope of relevant commercial health insurance may not be included in the scope of medical insurance payment by a certain category of disease and shall be paid after audit and evaluation procedures. Healthcare security authorities in various provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) may explore supporting retail pharmacies designated for basic medical insurance in procuring drugs within the Commercial Innovative Drug List, and should conduct proper terminal price monitoring at healthcare facilities and retail pharmacies. Commercial insurance institutions are encouraged to design new products, update coverage scopes, and adjust payment approaches based on the Commercial Innovative Drug List to better meet patients' medication needs and effectively reduce patients' medical expense burden. Regions with appropriate conditions are encouraged to explore "one-stop" settlement for medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, and commercial insurance.