In Depth: Cost Concerns Loom Over China’s Growing Market for Liver-Protection Drugs

The growing use of drugs promising to protect liver function is fueling a billion-dollar industry in China, along with concerns about their costs to patients, both in terms of their health and pocketbooks.

The domestic market for four common types of these medications — known as liver-protection or hepatoprotective drugs — amounted to 9.5 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) in 2023, with much of the sales coming from public hospitals, according to medical data provider Menet.