Reasons why Trientine is banned in China

Trientine(Trientine) is not a banned drug in the true sense, but due to its special import channels, listing status and circulation management methods, it has long been "difficult to buy, expensive, and channels are limited" in the domestic market. Many patients mistakenly believe that drugs are banned because they are essentially affected by supply models and pricing mechanisms rather than regulatory bans.

Trientine is one of the mature treatment options for Wilson's disease overseas. However, because its original drug was not regularly marketed in China at first, it can only be supplied through designated channels under the "Special Management of Imported Drugs" method. For example, some patients are provided with limited sources of drugs through cross-border imports, hospital special approval catalogs, and lists of clinically urgently needed imported drugs. This type of model usually has complicated procedures and unstable supply. At the same time, the introduction standards of hospitals in different regions are also different, making it difficult for patients to obtain the drug directly in local pharmacies or hospital pharmacies, giving people a misunderstanding of "forbidden sale".

On the other hand, the high price of imported drugs is also an important reason for the limited use of trientine. Due to the limited supply of original research manufacturers, coupled with multiple costs such as overseas transportation, customs clearance, agency, and warehousing, the final selling price of drugs in China is generally higher than that of many common prescription drugs. For patients with Wilson's disease who need lifelong medication, the continued high cost is a long-term burden and further limits the popularity of the drug in the country. In the absence of domestically produced substitutes on the market, insufficient market competition also makes it difficult to lower prices.

In addition, because original drugs adopt a strict quality control system and have higher requirements for storage temperature, packaging and transportation, batch supervision, etc., these have also made the domestic supply chain operation more cautious and further restricted the sales channels of drugs.

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