Proposed Swedish Pharma Pricing Model Suggests VBP Is Not Enough To Control Costs
The Swedish government published on Sept. 22 a framework directive designed to revolutionize the pricing, reimbursement of and access to patent-protected pharmaceuticals.
This will alarm pharma manufacturers that the VBP systems now being implemented by countries such as Germany, France and the U.K., simply may not go far enough in terms of controlling costs and that harsher measures may follow.
The directive examines the possibility of introducing a mechanism that would ensure that drug prices in Sweden are below or the same as prices in other comparable countries such as Norway, Great Britain and Denmark - known as a reference pricing system, the government suggests it could lead to annual savings of between SEK 500 million ($74 million) to SEK 2 billion ($294 million).
Sweden also is examining the possibility of introducing reimbursement limits for certain products - which should generate savings of SEK 900 million over a three-year period. The Rapporteur's report will be presented to government on Sept. 1, 2012.
"This implies that some of the proposals could be implemented as soon as in the beginning/middle of 2013," said Anders Blanck, Director General of the Swedish pharmaceutical industry association, Lif.
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