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The Chartbook of International Pharmaceutical Prices Investigates Overall Price Differentials Among the World's Seven Largest Pharmaceutical Markets

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 February 2006, 06:00 CST

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32018) has announced the addition of 2005 Chartbook of International Pharmaceutical Prices to their offering.

In today's increasingly price-sensitive environment, pharmaceutical companies must be aware of international price differentials. Many studies have compared retail prices in different countries, but international comparisons of pharmaceutical prices at the ex-manufacturer level are relatively uncommon. This analysis is intended to fill that void.

In this Decision Resources report, we examine overall price differentials among the world's seven largest pharmaceutical markets (the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Japan) and review the pricing hierarchy in individual markets. The report then analyzes price variations by therapeutic area and considers the prices of biologics. It concludes by briefly assessing the outlook and implications for the pharmaceutical industry.

Business Implications

-- In 2004, the average prices of 70 of the world's best-selling prescription medicines, expressed as a percentage of U.S. average prices, were 65% in France, 70% in Germany, 56% in Italy, 58% in Spain, and 68% in the United Kingdom. Japanese prices for these drugs, subject to their availability, averaged 87% 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 120% of U.S. prices, and European prices averaged 105% of U.S. prices. The average for both France and Germany was as high as 113%. 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.

-- The average percentage price differential between the United States and the other major pharmaceutical markets is greater for psychiatric drugs than for any of the other therapeutic areas analyzed in this report. In 2004, European prices averaged 50% of U.S. prices and Japanese prices averaged 46% of U.S. prices. By contrast, treatments for neurological disorders had the narrowest price gap between the United States and Europe of any of the seven therapeutic areas analyzed. European and Japanese prices averaged 80% of U.S. prices, but prices in Germany were just 6% below those in the United States.

-- Governments in most of the major pharmaceutical markets are likely to intensify their pharmaceutical cost-containment endeavors in the coming years. They will implement measures targeted at physicians, pharmacists, and patients, but drug manufacturers will remain their primary target. Governments in six of the seven major markets either have recently cut the prices of some medicines or are contemplating such action in the near future. These changes will increase the downward pressure on drug prices in all of these markets. The prices of off-patent medicines are likely to suffer the sharpest price cuts. At the other end of the spectrum of innovation, drugs that have novel mechanisms of action and/or that offer a clear therapeutic advantage over established therapies will be largely spared the worst effects of price-cutting.

Topics covered in the Decision Resources report include:

-- Overall Price Differentials among Markets

-- Pricing Hierarchy in Individual Markets

-- Price Variations by Therapeutic Area

-- Cardiovascular Drugs

-- Metabolic Disease Therapies

-- Immune and Inflammatory Disease Therapies

-- Infectious Disease Therapies

-- Neurological Disease Therapies

-- Psychiatric Drugs

-- Oncology-Related Drugs

-- Prices of Biologics

-- Outlook and Implications for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Companies mentioned in this report include:

-- Pfizer

-- GlaxoSmithKline

-- Otsuka Pharmaceutical

-- AstraZeneca

-- Takeda

-- Bayer

-- Abbott-Laboratories

-- Bristol-Myers Squibb

-- Amgen

-- Sanofi-Aventis

-- Eisai

-- Johnson & Johnson

-- Forest Laboratories

-- Amgen

-- Novartis

-- Eli Lilly

-- Schering-Plough

-- Biogen Idec

-- Serono

-- Schering AG

-- Merck & Co.

-- Roche

-- Genentech

-- Boehringer Ingelheim

-- Gilead Sciences

-- Wyeth

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32018

Source: Business Wire

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