South Korean media: China's number of approved new drugs has exceeded that of the United States for the first time!
On January 29, South Korean media "Gyeongang News" published an article stating that last year, China's number of approved new drugs exceeded that of the United States for the first time. This is attributed to China's efforts to accelerate the launch of innovative drugs, including improving the new drug approval process, while at the same time, the Trump administration continued to cut budgets and lay off staff.
According to information released by the Korean Biotechnology Industry Organization (KBIO), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a total of 46 new drugs last year. This number was 30 less than the 76 new drugs approved by the China National Medical Products Administration.
The number of new drugs approved by the U.S. FDA has been continuously declining, while China is rapidly surpassing the United States. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the number of new drug approvals in the United States dropped sharply to 37 in 2022, recovered to pre-pandemic levels (55) in 2023, but then gradually declined, reaching 50 in 2024, and 46 last year. In contrast, the number of new drugs approved by the China National Medical Products Administration has grown rapidly: 40 in 2023, 48 in 2024, and 76 last year.
The decline in the number of new drug approvals in the United States is considered to be a result of the Trump administration's cuts in personnel and budget. As part of its layoff plan, the Trump administration reduced 3,500 employees in April last year, accounting for 20% of the FDA's total of 18,000 employees, and later rehired some of them. Although this round of layoffs did not involve employees directly reviewing new products, due to the large-scale reduction in support staff and on-site facility inspection personnel, the workload of the FDA actually increased.
Additionally, the Trump administration is currently implementing a plan to cut the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by about 40% and the FDA's budget by about 5.5%. A report commissioned by the Democratic Party and prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that a 10% cut in the NIH budget will ultimately lead to a decrease of about two new drugs launched each year.
At the same time, China is accelerating new drug research and development. In just the first half of last year, the China National Medical Products Administration approved 43 innovative drugs, equivalent to the level of the entire year of 2023.
The Korean Biotechnology Industry Organization stated: "The decline in the number of FDA-approved drugs will not only negatively affect new drug research and development, but also negatively affect investment sentiment."
Original: toutiao.com/article/1855651738128456/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.