ABPI calls for drug pricing plan changes

The UK's Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has called for the UK government to incorporate any proposed value-based pricing (VBP) scheme for drugs into a new pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (PPRS)-type system.

This is to create a 'single, holistic, integrated, voluntary and negotiated scheme', according to the trade body.

Once the current PPRS system expires at the end of 2013, the coalition government plans to have a separate VBP scheme to judge the value of new drugs according to their patient benefit running parallel to PPRS, which will set prices for older drugs. However, the ABPI has claimed this is 'not practical'.

In its original response during the VBP paper's consultation period, the ABPI supported the government's plans to introduced VBP, but asked for clarity regarding how it would help to stimulate the UK economy.

Stephen Whitehead, who became chief executive of the ABPI on June 21, 2011, following the close of the consultation in March, has since told the UK's Daily Telegraph that the revised plan for VBP announced in July 2011 "doesn't actually seem to do anything to encourage innovation".

By incorporating VBP into PPRS, the ABPI said the strengths of the PPRS, such as minimal bureaucracy and stability, would be retained while its 'inherent flexibility' could be used to include a broader definition of value for the assessment of new medicines.

The issue of separate pricing systems leading to different prices for medicines across the UK's nations was also a concern for the ABPI.

The ABPI said its aim was for a 'unitary pricing and reimbursement system that includes the commitment to a value-based approach to pricing, minimises bureaucracy and ensures that patients have rapid access to new medicines'.

Related links

New Health Strategies: Value-based Pricing