International price comparisons for national price-negotiated drugs in China: a cross-regional analysis

China has long struggled with high medical costs and irrational drug pricing but has recently made significant progress by implementing drug negotiation strategies to effectively reduce the prices of targeted drugs. To accurately depict drug prices on a global scale, a cross-sectional time-series analysis was conducted in China using Multinational Integrated Data Analysis System data from the first quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2022. This analysis compared the prices of 140 price-negotiated innovative drugs across 15 countries using five distinct price indices-Average Price Index, Laspeyres, Paasche, Fisher, and Chained Laspeyres-aiming to address gaps in understanding China's negotiated drug prices globally. The five drug price index (DPI) showed general consistency and revealed significant variations in drug prices across countries. China's drug pricing reforms have successfully reduced drug costs and alleviated the financial burden on patients, offering insights for other developing countries. Drug price indices serve as valuable tools for monitoring prices and promoting transparency, while using PPPs may better reflect actual affordability and provide a more reasonable assessment.