PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AND …

1 DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AND. REIMBURSEMENT POLICIES IN. SWITZERLAND. Val rie Paris and Elizabeth Docteur 27. OECD HEALTH WORKING PAPERS. Unclassified DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. Organisation de Coop ration et de D veloppement Economiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 27-Jun-2007. _____. English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS. HEALTH COMMITTEE. Unclassified DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. Health Working Papers OECD HEALTH WORKING PAPERS NO.

2 27. PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AND REIMBURSEMENT POLICIES IN SWITZERLAND. Val rie Paris and Elizabeth Docteur JEL Classification: I18, I11. English - Or. English JT03229640. Document complet disponible sur OLIS dans son format d'origine Complete document available on OLIS in its original format DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. DIRECTORATE FOR EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS. OECD HEALTH WORKING PAPERS. This series is designed to make available to a wider readership health studies prepared for use within the OECD.

3 Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language English or French with a summary in the other. Comment on the series is welcome, and should be sent to the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, 2, rue Andr -Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16, France. The opinions expressed and arguments employed here are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD. Applications for permission to reproduce or translate all or part of this material should be made to: Head of Publications Service OECD.

4 2, rue Andr -Pascal 75775 Paris, CEDEX 16. France Copyright OECD 2007. 2. DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The authors wish to thank the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health for helping to arrange the mission during which much of the information used in this report was collected, for serving as an important source of information, and for commenting on a draft of this report. Particular thanks go to Giancarlo Kessler, Anita Brun and Bernadette Totti. Thanks are due also to the experts and stakeholders interviewed in the course of preparing this report, many of whom furnished data or publications referenced in the work: Thomas Cueni (Interpharma); Anne Decollogny (Institut d' conomie et management de la sant ); Markus Fritz (Medikamenten- Informationstelle SMI); Dr Max Giger (Swiss Medical Association); Bernard Grimm (Abbott, VIPS); Pius Gyger (Helsana); Josef Hunkeler (Surveillance des prix); Ren Jenny (Swiss association of full-line wholesalers).

5 Dominique Jordan (Soci t Suisse des Pharmaciens); Dr Stefan Marty (Institut central des h pitaux valaisans); Martin Rubeli (VIPS); Pr Samuel Vo eh (Swissmedic); and Andreas Wildi ( PHARMACEUTICAL Branch, Office of Public Health). Several of the individuals interviewed serve on the Federal Drug Committee. The authors thank Lihan Wei for assistance in the production of tables and figures included in this report; Francesca Colombo, Peter Scherer and Martine Durand for their comments and suggestions; and Marie-Christine Charlemagne for secretarial support.

6 3. DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. ABSTRACT. This paper examines aspects of the policy environment and market characteristics of the Swiss PHARMACEUTICAL sector, and assesses the degree to which Switzerland has achieved certain policy goals. In Switzerland, PHARMACEUTICAL spending has not been growing faster than health expenditure as a whole, as has been the case in many other OECD countries. Swiss PHARMACEUTICAL spending per capita and as a share of GDP is modest by OECD standards. This in part reflects relatively low levels of PHARMACEUTICAL consumption, given that public prices are among the highest in Europe and the Swiss tend to be early adopters of new PHARMACEUTICAL products.

7 Switzerland's regulation of prices for reimbursed drugs, based on referencing across countries and within the therapeutic class for products with comparators, appears to result in prices lower than what would be obtained absent regulation. Although ex-manufacturer prices are somewhat high relative to other European countries, recent reforms have reduced the differential. While costs are under control, Switzerland has scope to improve the cost-effectiveness of its expenditures in the PHARMACEUTICAL area. Generic penetration of the market is increasing but falls short of what has been achieved elsewhere and the prices of generic products are higher than what is found in other countries.

8 Relatively high mark-ups over ex-factory prices suggest that the distribution chain is a source of further potential efficiencies, although high costs could also reflect characteristics of the Swiss economy. Although the Swiss health system is characterised by a high share of out-of-pocket spending, the contrary is true in pharmaceuticals, as Switzerland ranks among OECD countries with the highest share of public financing. While there are limits on patients' annual cost-sharing expenditures, low-income persons are not exempted, raising the potential for problems with accessibility and affordability, although no evidence was uncovered in the course of this study.

9 Although Switzerland is a small market, new medicines are generally available on the market promptly. Manufacturers may choose Switzerland as a country for first or early world launch in part because of the leeway they are granted in establishing an initial market entry price when comparators are lacking. JEL Classification: I18, I11. Keywords: PHARMACEUTICAL policy; PRICING and reimbursement; PHARMACEUTICAL market; Switzerland 4. DELSA/HEA/WD/HWP(2007)3. R SUM . Ce document passe en revue diff rents aspects des politiques et des caract ristiques de march du secteur pharmaceutique en Suisse et value l'atteinte des objectifs relatifs la politique pharmaceutique suisse.

10 En Suisse, les d penses pharmaceutiques n'ont pas augment plus vite que l'ensemble des d penses de sant , contrairement ce qui s'est pass dans de nombreux autres pays de l'OCDE. Les d penses de m dicaments par habitant, et en proportion du PIB, restent mod r es par rapport la moyenne des pays de l'OCDE. Cela tient en partie au niveau relativement faible de la consommation pharmaceutique, puisque les prix publics sont parmi les plus lev s en Europe et les Suisses enclins adopter rapidement les nouveaux produits.