Result

The report outlines building blocks for a shift towards more sustainable and socially acceptable pricing and reimbursement of high-cost medicines that takes into account societal perspectives and the notion that new treatments should ideally contribute to net health benefits for society.

The report directly addresses the core challenge facing all European pricing and reimbursement systems: how to maintain affordable and equitable access while supporting innovation.

In short, the MAUG report provides a structured framework for thinking about sustainable pharmaceutical pricing, highly relevant for ongoing European discussions on the future of pricing and reimbursement policies.

Key elements include:

• Strengthening HTA to better incorporate societal value, burden of disease and long-term health gains.

• Paying attention to how acceptable pricing can evolve over a product’s lifecycle.

• Improving competition and market functioning, including clearer assessments of interchangeability and better purchasing structures.

• Exploring targeted regulatory tools, such as tariff regulation or enhanced competition oversight, when the market does not deliver socially acceptable prices.

• Incorporating the citizen perspective, emphasising the need for choices that keep healthcare accessible and affordable for society as a whole.

The study notes that:

• Current price levels for some high-cost therapies are increasingly difficult to sustain within current supply driven, solidarity-based systems.

• A stronger link between price and proven health benefit is essential to ensure long-term sustainability of our pharmaceutical model.

• More competition and lifecycle-based pricing can help prevent escalating costs that potentially displace other health care interventions.

• Public trust in P&R decisions relies on the notion that resources are used responsibly and that difficult choices can benefit from well-managed societal input.