Japan’s drug pricing authority hears opinions from pharma industry

Japan’s Central Social Insurance Medical Council (CSIMC) held a meeting last week of its Drug Pricing Subcommittee where representatives from Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Associations of Japan (FPMAJ), Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) presented their opinions on the revision of drug pricing rules slated for April 2014.

The focus was on “the Premium System for the Promotion of Innovative Drug Discovery and Resolution of Off-Label Use.” Haruo Naito, chief executive of Japanese drug major Eisai and chairman of the FPMAJ, kicked off the hearing with a request for a full institutionalization of the premium system that was introduced in 2010 on a trial basis.

The premium was a compromise to the industry’s request for “exemption” of patented drugs from biannual drug price revisions. The exemption rule was supposed to balance the additional drug price cuts on long-listed (or off-patent but branded) drugs that was also introduced in 2010. Instead of allowing patented drugs to be exempt from price cuts, the CSIMC introduced the premium system for patented drugs.