(WSJ) A dark comedy dominating the Chinese box office this summer has tapped into public discontent about pharmaceutical costs, and is being linked to a new government effort to tamp down prices of cancer drugs.
The film, “Dying to Survive,” is loosely based on the real-life exploits of Lu Yong, who smuggled cheap versions of a leukemia medication from India for resale to Chinese patients struggling to afford the genuine article. The low-budget film has taken in nearly 2.5 billion yuan ($374 million), since its release July 5, already making it the No. 6 highest-grossing movie in Chinese box office history, according to Beijing-based research firm EntGroup.
In addition to filling theaters, “Dying to Survive” has sparked an outpouring of comments on social media. In its first week, the film generated more than 200 posts topping 100,000 views on social-media app WeChat , according to web-tracking firm newrank.cn.
Costs for certain drugs have long been an issue in China, where government insurance doesn’t cover everything and people with severe diseases can have big out-of-pocket expenses.
Last week, the Chinese State Medical Insurance Bureau summoned representatives from 10 foreign and eight domestic pharmaceutical companies to begin preliminary discussions on cutting cancer drug prices, state media reported Sunday.
“The timing of the movie and recent government actions to crack down on drug prices are not accidental,” said Roger Liu, a former pharmaceutical industry executive who now runs his own drug-consulting firm.
Officials from the State Medical Insurance Bureau didn’t immediately respond to calls for comment.
Beijing has been campaigning to reduce drug prices for several years. In May, China removed import tariffs on cancer drugs.
Mr. Lu, on whom the film is based, imported an Indian knockoff of Glivec, which is made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG . In the film, the drug company and its product are identified by Mandarin names that sound similar to Novartis and Glivec. In the film’s English subtitles, however, the company is simply called “Novartis.”
A Beijing-based spokeswoman for Novartis Oncology (China) declined to comment on the movie.
But she said Novartis has a program to help low-income Chinese patients cover the cost of its cancer drugs. The program had helped more than 60,000 patients from 2003 through last year, she said.
Zhou Zijun, an associate professor at Peking University’s School of Public Health, said Novartis had to invest significant sums to develop the drug, and said such innovation should be rewarded with reasonable profit.
“In order to grab eyeballs, the best way for a movie is to have good guys and bad guys, but it’s not fair to Novartis,” Mr. Zhou said.
Chinese filmgoers like Zhang Yulin, however, say the film captures the pain many families experience when a loved one gets cancer and can’t afford good treatment.
Dr. Zhang, a Beijing physician, said she hadn’t been to the movies in years but felt compelled to see “Dying to Survive.”
“It is real life,” said Dr. Zhang, who saw the film Sunday afternoon in Beijing. “I know patients who had leukemia ended up losing both lives and money.”
Source: Wall Street Journal
