Upadacitinib launch date in China

As of December 2023, the original drug Upadacitinib has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration for marketing in China. Upadacitinib has subsequently been included in China's national reimbursement drug list. It has been approved for the treatment of several indications, including atopic dermatitis, active psoriatic arthritis, as well as moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, active ulcerative colitis and active Crohn's disease.

Upadacitinib, discovered and developed by AbbVie, is a once-daily oral extended-release tablet that is a selectiveJanus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor that interferes with the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and is thought to play a role in inflammatory responses. Upadatinib exhibits dose-proportional pharmacokinetics across the therapeutic dose range. After oral administration, the median time to reach Cmax (Tmax) is 2-4 hours. Steady-state plasma concentrations of upadacitinib are achieved within 4 days after multiple once-daily dosing with minimal accumulation.

The original drug Upadatinib, which is marketed in China, has also entered the scope of Class B medical insurance. Reimbursement is limited to eligible patients. It is sold under the trade name Ruifu/RINVOQ. The price of each box of 15mg*28 tablets may be around RMB 3,000. The European version of the original drug sold overseas is priced at more than 20,000 yuan for 15mg*30 tablets (the price may fluctuate due to exchange rates), which is expensive. Cheaper upadatinib generic drugs are also sold overseas, and their pharmaceutical ingredients are basically the same as those of the original drugs sold domestically and abroad. For example, the price of 15mg*30 tablets produced by Bangladesh pharmaceutical factory is around 900 yuan (the price may fluctuate due to the exchange rate).