Plain English Summary

Background:

An important question for health systems is how much they should pay for new pharmaceuticals. Paying more for new drugs may increase incentives for manufacturers to invest in to researching and developing more new drugs. However, devoting more NHS budget to new drugs means that these monies are not available to address other health priorities. Published research by EEPRU  has developed a framework for estimating the implications of alternative payment levels for pharmaceuticals for patient health and health care costs.

Aims and objectives: 

In this research we seek to provide improved evidence on how payments for new pharmaceuticals are likely to influence drug development, and to use this to provide more informed evidence on appropriate payment levels and pricing policies.

Methods: 

We will use data on payment levels and drug development to better understand how payment influences the number of new drugs developed, the health benefits offered by new drugs, and how much they cost to produce. This will help to improve our understanding of appropriate payment levels. 

Using examples of existing pharmaceuticals, we will demonstrate how different pricing policies can be used to deliver appropriate payment levels.

Policy relevance and dissemination:

This research will inform future pricing policies for new pharmaceuticals. We will then disseminate the research findings via peer reviewed publications and policy briefings.