EU States And Industry "Don't Want P/E Guide"

Prospects For Euro Union Pharmacoeconomic Moves

There is no enthusiasm for European Union guidelines for pharmacoeconomic evaluation, either from member states (particularly those with no drug industry to protect) or from industry, which sees it as the "fourth hurdle" for product approval, Jonathan Winawer of the Pharmaceutical Products Unit, DGIII, at the European Commission, told ICBI's PharmEcon meeting in Paris this month.

Both sides variously regard any such proposal as a tool for cost containment, for justifying higher spending or for imposing European prices, he said. Member states also resist the pharmacoeconomic argument that spending on drugs saves money elsewhere, given that drugs and other elements of health care are financed from separate budgets. National approaches to health care evaluation tend to fit with each country's philosophy of cost containment, eg the UK guidelines suit demand management while the French approach ties in with tighter controls on pricing and reimbursement, but harmonization is getting closer as the single market nears, communication improves and medical practice becomes more uniform, he said.