Attorneys Examine Next Frontiers in Drug Pricing and Ascendence of China as Global Player

In a chapter published in “Pricing and Reimbursement 2023” by Global Legal Insights, a cross-border team of attorneys explored topics including: the growing efforts at cost containment across jurisdictions; intensifying legal scrutiny of government efforts to contain costs or restrict access to therapies; and the increasing role of China as a global player of relevance to international pharmaceutical and pricing discussions.

The authors note that despite the creation of expedited approval pathways in various jurisdictions to facilitate patient access to treatments for conditions with significant unmet medical need, the rate of adoption of transformative medical innovations in various national health systems remains slow. The increase in therapeutic advances is not necessarily translating to enhancing patient access given restrictive market access criteria in many established markets.

The authors observe that many global markets are increasingly relying on health-economic tools to guide decision-making on whether medicines and health technologies should be financed or reimbursed by health systems. Manufacturers may therefore need to generate clinically relevant evidence to make a case regarding the value that a treatment will provide to patients, to healthcare systems and society.

The authors predict that governments will increasingly continue to look to pricing controls to contain healthcare costs even in countries such as the U.S. that historically have enjoyed a freer, more unconstrained market access environment.

The chapter was authored by life sciences regulatory & compliance partner and head of European life sciences Lincoln Tsang, life sciences partner Katherine Wang and health care partner Margaux Hall.