Improving patient access to innovative medicines : the framework in which differentiated pricing may offer a solution

Abstract

The research-based pharmaceutical industry considers that price differentiation between EU Member States could greatly improve affordable patient access to innovative medicines in those markets where there is a significant access problem. Adapting prices of pharmaceuticals to reflect the ability to pay in different geographical or even socio-economic segments can offer a win-win situation in terms of generating dynamic efficiencies that contribute to both the sustainability of healthcare systems and the pace of innovation. Yet today’s pricing and reimbursement practices have the effect of discouraging price differentiation. Member State action and support from the European Union are required to create a framework to enable and encourage voluntary recourse to differentiated pricing.