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Updated: Apr 9, 2026

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System
Published on: December 11, 2016
Implications of external price referencing of pharmaceuticals in Middle East countries
Zoltán Kaló1,2, Ibrahim Alabbadi3, Ola Ghaleb Al Ahdab4
1a 1 Department of Health Policy and Health Economics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Introduction:
External price referencing (EPR) is applied frequently to control pharmaceutical prices. Our objective was to analyse how EPR is used in Middle Eastern (ME) countries and to compare the price corridor for original pharmaceuticals to non-pharmaceutical services not subjected to EPR.
Methods:
We conducted a survey on EPR regulations and collected prices of 16 patented pharmaceuticals and 14 non-pharmaceutical services in seven Middle Eastern (ME) countries. Maximum and minimum prices of each pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical technology were compared to mean prices in the countries studied by using market exchange rates. Influencing factors of pharmaceutical prices were assessed by multivariate linear regression analysis.
Results:
The average price corridor is narrower for pharmaceuticals (-39.8%; +35.9%) than for outpatient and hospital services (-81.7%; +96.3%).
Conclusion:
Our analysis revealed the importance of population size and EPR implementation on drug price levels; however, EPR results in higher pharmaceutical prices in lower-income countries compared to non-pharmaceutical services.
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