Shire CEO: Pharma must "wake up" to new price reality

Dear All,

I had the pleasure to be on a joint panel with Angus Russell during the 2011 World Health Conference in Brussels about pharmaceutical pricing, where he also stated that pharma needs to start to face reality... I couldn't more agree with this article as many value propositions are unfortunately message heavy and data light.. it's time that true product performance is demonstrated otherwise all that market acess talk and wanting to understand payer perspectices etc. is for nothing..

Cheers
Ulf

Shire CEO: Pharma must "wake up" to new price reality - (Boston Business Journal via NewsPoints Desk)
(Ref: Boston Business Journal)

from WirstWord


Shire CEO Angus Russell said Wednesday that the drugmaker is now initiating head-to-head studies as early as Phase 1, so as to avoid expensive late-stage clinical trials if the potential therapy does not show promise to be best in class, and urged others in the industry to follow suit, Boston Business Journal reported.
Russell said in the future, other markets are likely to follow Germany’s lead in deciding not to pay for drugs that have not been evaluated in head-to-head trials with approved drugs.
The executive said payers and policymakers talk about value, not innovation, and that “if you ignore payers and policymakers, you are not going to be successful in the new world we are entering.”
Russell criticized the lack of coordination between business, regulatory bodies and government health payers, whereby pharmaceutical companies consult with regulators early in the drug development process to design clinical trials, but only after approval, or just before, do they consult with payers about pricing for the drugs.
He noted that “we are all losers at the end of the day if payers don’t want the drugs," or don’t pay a return that is acceptable to shareholders and urged the industry to open up dialogue with regulators, saying “if we don’t get involved ... we’ll end up in a bad place.”