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Published on: December 11, 2016
Ongoing pharmaceutical reforms in France: implications for key stakeholder groups.
Catherine Sermet1, Veronique Andrieu, Brian Godman
1IRDES (Institut de recherche et de documentation en économie de la santé), Paris, France. Sermet@irdes.fr
Applied Health Economics and Health Policy
|December 30, 2009
Summary
France implemented reforms to control rising pharmaceutical costs, focusing on drug pricing, value assessment, and promoting generics. These measures aim to reduce expenditure while ensuring access to innovative medicines and improving prescribing quality.
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Pharmaceutical Policy
- Public Health
Background:
- Rising pharmaceutical costs in France are driven by new technologies, chronic diseases, and prescribing freedom.
- Reforms were introduced to moderate expenditure, ensure universal coverage, and reward innovation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of pharmaceutical reforms on healthcare costs and quality of care in France.
- To identify potential savings and future initiatives for optimizing pharmaceutical expenditure.
Main Methods:
- Review of implemented reforms including price controls, delisting, rebates, and generic prescribing initiatives.
- Estimation of potential cost savings from specific interventions like reduced antibacterial prescribing and increased generic utilization.
Main Results:
- Significant savings estimated from decreasing antibacterial prescribing (€27M/year), delisting ineffective drugs (€450M/year), rebates (€670M/year), and increased generic use (€1B/year).
- Potential additional savings of €1.5B/year by increasing generic use for drugs like proton pump inhibitors and statins.
- Delisting drugs based on value serves as a model for other countries.
Conclusions:
- Pharmaceutical reforms in France have the potential to generate substantial cost savings.
- Continued focus on generic prescribing, value-based drug assessment, and post-launch monitoring is recommended.
- France's approach offers valuable lessons for international pharmaceutical cost-containment strategies.
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