Why are rasagiline tablets so expensive and why?

Rasagiline is one of the first-line drugs for Parkinson's disease, and its price is indeed higher than that of other drugs for neurological diseases. A variety of factors are involved behind this phenomenon, including R&D investment, patent protection, drug import channels, and medical insurance policies. First of all, the original drug of rasagiline was developed by the Israeli company Teva and enjoyed patent protection when it entered the market in its early stages. This resulted in no price competition pressure for the original drug for a long period of time, and the cost was naturally maintained at a high level.

Secondly, as a drug whose patent has expired soon, although its generic version has appeared in the Chinese market, it still needs to go through strict drug registration approval and quality consistency evaluation processes. The price of imported drugs such as the Turkish version of rasagiline is about 1,000 yuan, reflecting the superposition of additional costs such as cross-border transportation, channel circulation, and tariffs. The price of the domestic version is relatively low, ranging from a few hundred to a thousand yuan, and some of them are included in medical insurance, but they still fall into the category of "medium-to-high-priced" drugs.

In addition, the production cost of drugs cannot be ignored. Rasagiline is a central nervous system drug that has strict requirements on raw material purity, production process and environmental control. In particular, it is necessary to ensure the stability of ingredients and consistency of efficacy, which increases the cost of production and quality control. At the same time, because its applicable population is concentrated on patients with Parkinson's disease, the overall demand is not as high as that of popular chronic disease drugs such as hypertension and diabetes. The small quantity and high price are the natural result of supply and demand.

It is worth noting that the introduction of generic drugs has brought a certain buffer to the market. For example, the Indian version of generic rasagiline usually costs around 300 yuan, and its ingredients and efficacy are basically the same as those of the original drug, making it a more cost-effective option. At the same time, the intervention of medical insurance reimbursement can also significantly reduce the burden on patients, but the specific reimbursement amount is closely related to regional policies.

Reference materials:https://www.azilect.com/