Europe’s Drug Reform – The real prescription for lower drug prices: Get Europe to drop its price controls – Pietro Paganini – The Washington Examiner – June 29
Read the opinion published by the prestigious Washington Examiner, it discusses the reform of the pharmaceutical regulations that prevent innovation and consumers benefits.
Full argille available here on the Washington Examiner
Here an excerpt:
“It’s no secret that transatlantic relations have been a bit stormy recently, due in part to President Trump disparaging European countries as “freeloaders” who invest comparatively less in research and development for new medicines while suppressing drug prices through government controls.”
“But in Europe, innovators are subject to arbitrary price controls, instituted by national governments more interested in rationing and keeping drug prices artificially depressed than in finding new cures. Thanks to measures like price caps and compulsory rebates, on average the 31 members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development spent€474 per capita on prescription drugs in 2015, compared to €750 in the U.S. Once again, because of the strong link between income and innovation, that means less money for new cures: While the U.S. drug industry spent €199 per capita on R&D in 2014, for the European members of the OECD the figure was just €47 per capita.”
“Crucially these price reductions were not the result of government fiat, but rather the product of market dynamics that allowed innovation to flourish. As such they will extend to every healthcare system in the world, provided free market principles are allowed to operate. Transparent pricing policies, strong protections for intellectual property, incentives to innovate — these are the lodestars that should guide American trade representatives seeking fairer trade terms in bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom, the EU, and other trade partners.”
Europe’s Drug Reform – The real prescription for lower drug prices: Get Europe to drop its price controls – Pietro Paganini – The Washington Examiner – June 29
