What happened
On the second day of the 2026 national medical insurance negotiations, two CAR-T therapies—Naxitamab (from He Yuan Bio) and Relma-cel (from JW Therapeutics)—were presented for inclusion in the basic medical insurance catalog, both having previously been listed in the first commercial insurance innovative drug catalog.
Executives from multiple pharmaceutical companies, including Hengrui Medicine, Everest Medicines, and CSPC Group, attended the negotiations in person for two consecutive days, reflecting the high stakes involved.
The day saw over 40 companies enter the negotiation venue, with morning sessions including major players like AstraZeneca, Roche, and Innovent Biologics, and afternoon sessions featuring Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and others.
Why it matters
If a CAR-T therapy is successfully included in the basic medical insurance catalog, it would mark a historic milestone, as these million-yuan cell therapies have previously been excluded due to implicit cost thresholds. This could significantly alleviate the financial burden for patients with blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia.
Such an inclusion would establish a new pricing paradigm for high-cost cell therapies in China, potentially reshaping the commercialization path for innovative drugs and providing a reference for future access mechanisms for other expensive treatments.
The negotiations also test the effectiveness of the new pre-declaration mechanism, which aims to shorten the timeline from drug approval to insurance coverage, thereby enhancing innovation returns for companies.
Key facts
Two CAR-T therapies, Naxitamab and Relma-cel, are vying for inclusion in the basic medical insurance catalog during the 2026 national negotiations.
Both therapies were previously included in the first commercial insurance innovative drug catalog in 2025.
Over 40 companies participated in the second day of negotiations, with executives from several major firms attending in person.
The implicit threshold for CAR-T therapies has been 'no negotiation above 500,000 yuan, no entry above 300,000 yuan,' which has historically blocked their inclusion.
What to watch next
The outcome of the CAR-T negotiations will be closely watched, as a successful inclusion could set a precedent for other high-cost cell and gene therapies.
The performance of innovative drugs like the world's first bispecific ADC (from Baili Tianheng) and the 'rice-derived albumin' product (from Heyuan Bio) will indicate whether the pre-declaration mechanism effectively accelerates market access.
Observers will monitor how companies balance pricing to secure insurance coverage, as one industry insider noted that success rates are high if prices are managed well, especially after pre-communication.