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Calls from the World Health Organization (WHO) for greater transparency over medicines pricing have been rejected by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), a trade association of companies in the UK that produce prescription medicines.
Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director general for health systems and innovation at the WHO, told a press conference at the Fair Pricing Forum, held on 11 May 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that governments should share information on what they pay for drugs and pharmaceutical companies should be honest about the costs of developing drugs.
However, the ABPI responded by saying that commercial confidentiality was important. “Sharing of net prices would undermine the industry’s ability to ensure an appropriate price is paid in each context and would likely affect patients’ access to medicines,” a spokesperson said in a statement, issued following the meeting.
Prices paid for medicines also need to reflect the value to patients not just the cost of development, they added.
