Healthcare investors keeping an eye on ‘two sessions’ for clarity on drug pricing

Ahead of China’s annual legislative meetings – typically a window into Beijing’s top-level policy agenda – this is the eighth entry in a series examining the complex economic recalibration driving China’s growth philosophy and its wide-ranging implications for local governments, financial investors and private enterprises.Investors are watching Beijing’s annual “Two Sessions” this week for signs that the country will address drug pricing and shore up its drug payment system, as a new form of insurance introduced in January for expensive, innovative treatments struggles to gain traction.Near-term policy impact on the sector was likely to be limited, analysts said ahead of the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and political advisory body, which begin in Beijing on Wednesday.“We are not expecting much groundbreaking news related to healthcare from the Two Sessions,” said Tony Ren, head of Asia healthcare research at Macquarie Capital. “The impact tends to be moral support rather than concrete results.”Zhang Jialin, Nomura’s head of China healthcare research, said the meetings could yield fine-tuning on certain policies like volume-based procurement (VBP) and commercial insurance, but nothing that would have “immediate material impact on listed companies’ financials”.The National People’s Congress is expected to review a draft outline for the nation’s 15th five-year plan for 2026 through 2030, which supports innovative drug development and identifies biomanufacturing as a new engine of economic growth.