Pricing & Reimbursement

Scrip spotlights the action around five key big pharma products in India. We track the gains made by Rybelsus and Keytruda, the wave of Januvia and Ibrance generics and on-market and court action for blockbuster Entresto.

Pfizer’s Ibrance is set to lose exclusivity in the US only by 2027, but the Indian market is buzzing with activity as generics including from top-ranked drug maker Sun Pharma vie for a share of the pie. Competing CDK4/6 inhibitors are already available but can cut-price palbociclib versions alter market dynamics?

From orphan to cancer drugs, more products have had their prices cut in the latest round of reimbursement negotiations in China. Although the 60% average across 100 medicines was considered mild given it didn’t go beyond the previous year, it was still chilling and is prompting more firms, both multinational and domestic, to walk away from the process.

In this week's podcast version of Five Must-Know Things: the best of J.P. Morgan; Novartis on its US-first commercial plan; Chugai CEO talks to Scrip on the Roche alliance and more; Scrip Asks what this year holds for pricing and reimbursement; and the global outlook for biopharma funding.

Industry leaders are concerned about the outlook for small molecule drugs in particular, but execs at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference were also optimistic there could be chances to shape the implementation of certain policies.

While the implications of the US Inflation Reduction Act are the focus of the sector’s concern this year, another regulatory development will impact earnings sooner.

The 2022 pricing negotiations for innovative drugs organized by China’s National Healthcare Security Administration have slashed prices of included products by 60% on average, a level mostly unchanged from the 2021 round, although 36% more novel medicines were covered.

After a comparatively subdued 2022 in terms of M&A and other deal-making, a strengthening currency and interest in new areas such as digital tools and cell and gene therapy might see a rebound in activity this year, which should also see domestic approvals of several potential blockbusters and more support for bioventures. 

Biopharma executives see value-based pricing as an increasingly important topic for the sector in 2023, while the US Inflation Reduction Act will have a major impact on portfolio strategies.

Timing big M&A transactions to coincide with the biggest investor conference of the year is difficult. But getting it right can boost stocks across the sector.

Court sets aside order pertaining to patent for Novartis’s Entresto in India, setting the stage for high-octane generic competition that potentially includes frontline domestic companies. If the Swiss firm appeals, market dynamics may be impacted but prices of same-composition second brands of the heart-failure therapy are already headed southwards.

Headwinds of political instability, violent conflict, inflation and recession accompany us into 2023. Scrip surveyed industry leaders on the impacts for biopharma.