DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c40221) has announced the addition of the Decision Resources, Inc. report: 2006 Chartbook of International Pharmaceutical Prices to their offering.
In an ever more globalized pharmaceutical market, drug pricing and reimbursement continue to differ markedly from one country to another. Payers jealously guard their authority to set prices, and they will exert growing pressure on manufacturers to cut their prices. This increasingly price-sensitive environment requires pharmaceutical companies to be aware of international price differentials. In this Decision Resources, Inc. report, we analyze pharmaceutical prices at the ex-manufacturer level, examining overall price differentials among the seven pharmaceutical markets we cover (United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Japan) and reviewing the pricing hierarchy in individual markets. We then analyze price variations by therapeutic area and consider the prices of biologics. We conclude with a brief assessment of the outlook and implications for the pharmaceutical industry.
Business Implications
In 2005, the average prices of 150 of the world's best-selling prescription medicines, expressed as a percentage of U.S. average prices, were 59% in France, 62% in Germany, 50% in Italy and Spain, and 59% in the United Kingdom. Japanese prices for these drugs, subject to their availability, averaged 76% of U.S. average prices. Manufacturers should be aware of the scale of overall price differentials between countries and price variations within individual therapeutic areas.
The situation is much different when the prices of biologics are examined. Japanese prices for biologics averaged 99% of U.S. prices, and European prices averaged 88% of U.S. prices. The averages for Germany and France were as high as 97% and 95%, respectively. The key here is that European and Japanese authorities are willing to approve high prices for therapies that represent innovation and clinical superiority relative to older therapies. European average prices are closer to U.S. levels in infectious disease therapies than in any of the other therapeutic areas analyzed in this report. Psychiatric drugs have the largest overall price differential between the United States and Japan of any of the therapeutic areas included in our analysis. In 2005, Japanese prices for psychiatric drugs averaged 33% of U.S. prices, and European prices were, on average, 41% of U.S. prices.
