Given the growing concerns over rising healthcare costs, our pricing approach reflects our continued efforts to support patient access while minimizing our contribution to overall healthcare system spending.
This is why, in 2022, we published our Global Access & Pricing Principles. They provide a framework for pricing and providing access to our new treatments and vaccines globally and apply to our three Global Business Units, i.e. Specialty Care, Vaccines and General Medicines Their approach is twofold:
1. When we set the price of a new medicine, we follow a rigorous and structured process that includes consultation with external stakeholders and considers the following factors:
- holistic assessment of values:
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- clinical value and outcomes, or the benefit the medicine delivers to patients, and how well it works compared to a standard of care,
- economic value, or how the medicine reduces the need — and therefore costs — of other healthcare interventions, and
- social value, or how the medicine contributes to quality of life and productivity.
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Our assessments rely on a range of internal and external methodologies, including health technology assessment (HTA) and other analyses that help define or quantify value and include patient perspectives and priorities.
- availability or anticipation of similar treatments at the time of launch: we review similar current or future treatment options at the time of launch to understand the landscape within the disease areas in which our medicine or vaccines may be used.
- ability of markets to afford new medicines: we consider the steps we must take to promote access for patients and contribute to a more sustainable system for payers and healthcare systems. And,
- unique factors specific to the medicine or vaccine at the time of launch there may be factors specific to a medicine or vaccine at the time of launch. For example, we may need to support ongoing clinical trials to reinforce the value of our medicines (e.g. longer-term outcomes studies), implement important regulatory commitments, or develop sophisticated patient support tools that improve care management and help decrease the total cost of care.
2. Inclusion of affordability criteria into pricing considerations for new launches
For all new product launches, we factor in country affordability (capacity to pay) using indicators published every year by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. We specifically look at country wealth (GDP per capita and growth rate); healthcare system ability to pay (public health spending); and the burden of health cost on individuals (individual contribution to health care expenditures). We use these criteria to determine our net price flexibility for the country.
When it comes to sustainable and equitable access to healthcare in vulnerable and underserved populations, barriers to access are deeper than price alone. Among the multiple gaps, insufficient awareness, limited access to diagnostic tools, inadequate healthcare capacity and capabilities, sub-optimal ‘last mile’ distribution, and other social and political determinants remain crucial issues for access to healthcare. We are working closely with global and local health authorities and partners to develop comprehensive care solutions, including the provision of high-quality vaccines and medicines at adjusted prices according to country specifics and needs.