How do companies that have struck MFN deals see Europe?
The CEOs of three companies have sounded warnings to the region
On the pricing policies of countries that will be MFN comparator markets, Albert Bourla of Pfizer said: “We are hoping that they will understand that they need to change the way that they price their products. Going forward, of course a little bit of help from the US government and USTR trade negotiations also can make that happen. And my assessment is that Howard Lutnick and the US Trade Representatives are finally, finally committed to make this go away.” He cautioned that, if European countries do not offer acceptable reimbursement prices for drugs, “we will price them to the price that will not affect the US price”—which would presumably mean no public sector coverage.
David Ricks of Eli Lilly addressed the industry’s concerns about clawbacks in Europe in an interview with The Financial Times. He described the policy as a “one-way insurance system” that will prevent companies from launching new medicines in Europe if it continues. His recommendation was: “Let’s off-ramp this system—it’s well past time—and let’s focus spending on medicines, on things that are breakthroughs, but reward them, and then go through the hard work of compressing budgets in the part of the healthcare systems that are now obsolete because we have breakthroughs and cures.”
Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca compared the European commercial environment with those of the United States and China: “If you look at innovation, it’s happening in the US very rapidly now, it’s happening in China, and there’s not so much in Europe.” Looking ahead, he reflected: “You still see a large industrial base in Europe, for historical reasons. A problem is future products rely on new technologies that require new manufacturing tools. And these technologies are going to the US, and they’re going to China and other parts of the world, so in 15, 20 years, Europe could easily lose its health sovereignty.”
Soriot also urged European policymakers to take on a greater share of the risk of drug development: “The US, for the last number of years, has been really paying for the cost and the risk associated with innovation. We should never forget the risk. Everybody talks about the cost, but there’s a massive risk. I mean, we have a portfolio committee, and very often, we spend several hundred million dollars in one meeting. If those studies fail, it’s a lot of money in the rubbish bin.”
