Implications of external price referencing of pharmaceuticals in Middle East countries
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Taylor and Francis Ltd
Abstract
Introduction: External price referencing (EPR) is applied frequently to control pharmaceutical prices. Our objective was to analyse how EPR is used in Middle Eastern (ME) countries and to compare the price corridor for original pharmaceuticals to non-pharmaceutical services not subjected to EPR. Methods: We conducted a survey on EPR regulations and collected prices of 16 patented pharmaceuticals and 14 non-pharmaceutical services in seven Middle Eastern (ME) countries. Maximum and minimum prices of each pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical technology were compared to mean prices in the countries studied by using market exchange rates. Influencing factors of pharmaceutical prices were assessed by multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: The average price corridor is narrower for pharmaceuticals (-39.8%; +35.9%) than for outpatient and hospital services (-81.7%; +96.3%). Conclusion: Our analysis revealed the importance of population size and EPR implementation on drug price levels; however, EPR results in higher pharmaceutical prices in lower-income countries compared to non-pharmaceutical services. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.
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Keywords
Cross-national price comparison, External reference pricing, International society of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research, Middle east countries, Pharmaceutical pricing, Price corridor for pharmaceuticals, Ambulatory care, Commerce, Cost control, Drug costs, Economics, hospital, Humans, Income, Linear models, Middle east, Multivariate analysis, Pharmaceutical preparations, Drug, Article, Cholecystectomy, Drug cost, Drug marketing, Economic aspect, Egypt, External price referencing, Forced expiratory volume, Forced vital capacity, Geographic distribution, Health care cost, Health care policy, Health care system, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Life expectancy, Linear regression analysis, Medical procedures, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacological parameters, Population size, Qatar, Reimbursement, Saudi arabia, Social status, Spirometry, United arab emirates, Commercial phenomena, Economics, Health economics, Human, Statistical model, Statistics and numerical data