New Research Addresses the Drug Pricing Conundrum: Encouraging Innovation While Maintaining Affordability
Newswise — Lawrenceville, NJ, USA—March 6, 2023—Value in Health, the official journal of ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research, announced today the publication of a series of articles describing important new research related to drug pricing globally. Guest editors for the themed section were Josephine Mauskopf, PhD, RTI Health Solutions, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA and Khalid Kamal, PhD, MPharm, West Virginia University School of Pharmacy, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. The series was published in the March 2023 issue of Value in Health.
“Increases in drug prices and drug spending are of concern to health systems worldwide,” said Mauskopf and Kamal. “In fact, surveys of ISPOR members have consistently identified drug pricing as one of the top 10 health economics and outcomes research issues affecting healthcare decision making and accessibility to innovative treatments. This has naturally driven policy interest and discussion around drug pricing and the need to balance affordability with sustaining innovation. Because of this, the journal Value in Health agreed to the creation of this themed section, and an open call was made on the journal’s website for submissions presenting quantitative or methodological analyses relating to drug pricing throughout the product life cycle.”
Mauskopf and Kamal contributed an introductory editorial, “Drug Pricing Throughout the Product Lifecycle: A Work in Progress,” that includes an overview of the topic and introduces the 9 research papers in the series:
- “The Value of Medical Innovation Versus Industry Rewards,” by Kristopher Hult, PhD and Tomas Philipson, PhD
- “The Allocation of the Economic Value of Second-Generation Antipsychotics Over the Product Life-Cycle: The Case of Risperidone in Sweden and the United Kingdom,” by Mikel Berdud, PhD; Niklas Wallin-Bernhardsson, MSc; Bernarda Zamora, PhD; Peter Lindgren, PhD; and Adrian Towse, MPhil
- “Value-Based Pricing for Patent-Protected Medicines Over the Product Life Cycle: Pricing Anomalies in the ‘Age of Cures’ and Their Implications for Dynamic Efficiency,” by Louis P. Garrison, Jr, PhD; Boshen Jiao, MPH; and Omar Dabbous, MD
- “The Impact on Cost-Effectiveness of Accounting for Generic Drug Pricing: 4 Case Studies,” by Joshua Cohen, PhD
- “Modeling Tiered Pricing Frameworks: A Simulation Approach,” by Javad Moradpour, PhD, MSc; Wei Zhang, PhD; Paul Grootendorst, PhD; Aslam Anis, PhD; and Aidan Hollis, PhD
- “The ‘Affordable Medicines’ Reimbursement Program in Ukraine: Framework Assessment and Impact Evaluation,” by Viktoriia Dobrova, DSci; Kseniia Ratushna, PhD; Oleksii Popov, PhD; Anna Bezruk, PhD; and Ivan Loboda, BSc
- “Using Multiple Authorized Generics to Maintain High Prices: The Example of Entacapone,” by Benjamin Rome, MD, MPH; Alexander Egilman, BA; Neeraj Patel, BA; and Aaron Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH
- “The Influence of US Drug Price Dynamics in Cost Effectiveness Analyses of Biologics,” by Stephen Kogut, PhD, MBA; Jon Campbell, PhD, MS; and Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc
- “The Zero-Price Conundrum: Exploration of Scenarios Where a Clinically Effective New Drug Might Not Be Cost-Effective at Zero Price,” by Deirdre Mladsi, BA; Christine Barnett, PhD; Gregory Mader, PhD; T. Alexander Russell-Smith, MSc; Aig Unuigbe, PhD; and Tim Bell, MHA
In addition to the 9 studies, the themed section also included 3 commentaries that provided important background and context for both US and European markets:
- “Does the United States Need Better Policies Governing Generic Drug Use?” by Newell McElwee, PharmD, MSPH
- “Medicare Drug Price Negotiation in the United States: Implications and Unanswered Questions,” by Sean D. Sullivan, PhD, BScPharm
- “Innovative Public Price Mechanisms for Market Access of Innovative Medicines: A Marriage Between Cost-Effectiveness, Medical Need, and Budget Impact,” by Lieven Annemans, PhD, MSc
“Different research papers in this issue present quantitative research on both branded and generic drug prices showing their relationship to the value generated by these drugs as well as their relationship to patent expiry and market competition. It is clear that the costs associated with developing, producing, and marketing innovative drugs must be balanced against the societal value of the drug to determine a price that gives an acceptable rate of return to the supplier and to society,” concluded Mauskopf and Kamal. “The research and commentaries in this themed series leave unanswered several complex and yet unresolved issues, including how the broader value of the drug should be presented, how this value should be reflected in decision-making criteria such as the cost-effectiveness threshold, and how the value created should be shared by producers and consumers to encourage innovation but maintain affordability. We expect that the debate will continue.”
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ABOUT ISPOR
ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR), is an international, multistakeholder, nonprofit dedicated to advancing HEOR excellence to improve decision making for health globally. The Society is the leading source for scientific conferences, peer-reviewed and MEDLINE®-indexed publications, good practices guidance, education, collaboration, and tools/resources in the field.
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ABOUT VALUE IN HEALTH
Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) is an international, indexed journal that publishes original research and health policy articles that advance the field of health economics and outcomes research to help healthcare leaders make evidence-based decisions. The journal’s 2021 impact factor score is 5.156 and its 5-year impact factor score is 6.779. Value in Health is ranked 9th of 88 journals in health policy and services, 18th of 109 journals in healthcare sciences and services, and 50th of 381 journals in economics. Value in Health is a monthly publication that circulates to more than 10,000 readers around the world.
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