The European Commission publishes the opinion of its experts on financing models for innovative medicines

Background

The Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in Health was created with the purpose of providing non-binding advice to the Commission on matters related to the efficacy, access and resilience of the healthcare systems.

The report that we refer to, called “Innovative payment models for high-cost innovative medicines”, is interesting as it provides a general overview on some basic principles of the new financing models for innovative medicines.

Opinion of the experts

The basic principles that according to the Expert Panel should prevail in the new financing models are the following ones:

–  It is advised that, for transparency purposes, pharmaceutical companies submit to the authorities an estimate of the costs that they have incurred regarding investigation.

– The healthcare systems are encouraged to explore ways of protecting innovation out of the patent system and to provide mechanisms so that the public sector participates in the returns from the R&D which it funds.

– It is stated that there is not a single model to measure the value and the results of innovative medicines, but it is essential to increase comparability of the data, preferably across countries, as well as to improve remuneration for therapeutic value.

– In the context of price negotiations, mechanisms should be introduced in order to control, through the competition authorities, situations of abusive market power.

– It is considered that there in no model which can be used for all scenarios, but that different models must coexist and be used depending on the case.

– It is pointed out that the purchase of integral solutions in health (services) is an alternative to the purchase of products, and it is considered that moving towards this direction will better compensate effective treatments.

– Likewise, the creation of dialogue platforms which involve authorities and representatives of pharmaceutical companies is encouraged.

The report of the Expert Panel is a tool of high value in the current context, and it synthesizes  highly interesting ideas. However, in our opinion the report misses the chance of offering a clear support to the incorporation of the endless possibilities of Real World Evidence to the mechanisms of measuring results in health. Big Data will certainly play a fundamental role in the decisions of price and reimbursement of medicinal products and other health interventions in the not-too-distant future.