MALAYSIA – Asian countries, like India, have been struggling to find a middle ground to the effective pricing of drugs and medical devices over the past year and several are looking at health technology assessment (HTA) programs as a solution for this issue in the coming year.
For biopharma, 2019 can be described as a terrific year – with a few asterisks. The financial markets were flourishing, with venture capital dollars, in particular, flowing to the sector, while dealmaking reached historic proportions. Meanwhile, scientific breakthroughs led the way as cell and gene therapies gained ground, the first signs of success emerged with new technologies like CRISPR and the long-awaited promise of genomics found its way to the front lines of health care.
Throughout the year we have published the views of company executives, government regulators, industry analysts and scientists on a variety of topics and, in our popular annual feature, we include a selection of these that paints a picture of the significant events that shaped 2019.
MALAYSIA – Asian countries, like India, have been struggling to find a middle ground to the effective pricing of drugs and medical devices over the past year and several are looking at health technology assessment (HTA) programs as a solution for this issue in the coming year. Boston-headquartered consulting firm Analysis Group Inc. recently looked at how HTA programs in Japan, South Korea and China varied and what could be gleaned from their experiences.
BEIJING – China is aggressively pushing its goal to make drugs more affordable, and foreign pharma giants are adjusting their pricing strategy for a market that comprises nearly 20% of the world’s population and is expected to continue growing.
LONDON – It’s no secret that American citizens pay the most for drugs, but the extent of the disparity is laid bare in a new index of the prices of 13 medicines in 50 countries worldwide.
HAMBURG, Germany – Despite the biotech industry's recent record-breaking run in terms of fundraising and new drug approvals, the ongoing drug pricing controversy is acting as a drag on biotechnology investment. Since the debate started to heat up about four years ago, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index is down 14%, while the S&P 500 Index is up by 46% during the same period, David Thomas, vice president, industry research at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), told delegates attending the opening plenary session at BIO-Europe. "Something is clearly holding back investors in our space," he said.
Those cheap prescription drug prices other countries get? They're not always the result of savvy government negotiations. An antitrust suit the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed Tuesday alleges that some of those low prices may be innovator shenanigans intended to prevent or delay biosimilar competition in the U.S. market.
In another marathon session Tuesday, the third U.S. House committee with jurisdiction over prescription drug pricing issues marked up H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, clearing the way for a House vote on the partisan measure yet this month.
Unexplained price increases are a recurring theme whenever a congressional committee discusses U.S. prescription drug prices, and both state and federal lawmakers have proposed measures to force drug manufacturers to justify those increases.
