Drug pricing and reimbursement remain concerns for Czech pharmaceuticals, says BMI

As far as its pharmaceutical market in concerned, the Czech Republic retained its pole position, which it climbed to the previous quarter surpassing Greece, according to Business Monitor International’s third-quarter 2010 environment ratings for emerging markets.

The country’s scores in the Risks to Realization of Returns category, indicating a high degree of operational stability, are somewhat stronger than its limits of potential returns scores, which are brought down by the relatively modest forecast growth of its pharmaceutical market values, as well as some outstanding issues regarding patent protection.

The Czech Republic again features in the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) Special 301 submission for 2010, with its position being unchanged from 2009, BMI noted. Key areas of concern include pricing and reimbursement regimes (including a therapeutic referencing system that allows patented and non-patented products to be linked for pricing purposes and positive lists), as well as individual physician prescribing budgets (which are compared with historical trends) and general limitations on prescribing more expensive medicines by select specialists.