Americans pay the most in the world for medicines, funneling billions of dollars a year into an industry.
Trump said drug prices will be cut by “59%, PLUS!” in a social media post on Monday.
Over the weekend, Trump vowed to sign an executive order in Washington to institute what he called a most-favored nation policy, mandating that Americans pay no more than people in countries that have the lowest price and promising a 30% to 80% cut in drug prices.
Commersant was interested in what impact the US President’s initiative will have on the pharmaceutical market of other countries, including Georgia. We discussed this with the Executive Director at the head of the International Association of Pharmaceutical Companies Representatives (APCRG) . Irakli Margvelashvili believes it is too early to give preliminary assessments of the consequences, since this is a complex issue and it is important to determine on what basis prices will be cut on the American market.
“40% of the total the amount spent on pharmaceuticals in the world is spent in the US. This is because the American population is almost completely supplied with medicines, and prices in the US are also quite high. The extent to which President Trump’s plan to lower drug prices, which will most likely be adopted, may affect other pharmaceutical markets, including Georgia, depends on how it is adopted. What is important is what is meant by this initiative. Direct price cuts only in the US? There may be some changes in the insurance system that will lead to a decrease in payments. Everything depends on what form these changes will take. “Therefore, it is too early to talk about how much this decision may affect drug prices in the Georgian pharmaceutical market,” Irakli Margvelashvili notes.
CEO at APCRG claims that prices for pharmaceutical products are regulated in the European and Asian markets. In the United States, regulatory system is not enacted that causes high prices for drugs. Irakli Margvelashvili explains that drug prices are tied to the country's insurance system. He thinks it is necessary to clarify what President Trump's initiative means, and only after the details are made public it will be possible to say what impact this decision will have on pharmaceutical markets in other countries.
,,This is a rather complicated approach, and it does not mean that something has become so much cheaper in the US that others will follow it. It is a complex issue, in which several issues are intertwined, including health insurance. Different government administrations have tried different ways to work on this issue, but have failed to make any significant changes. There were many reasons for that. “So let’s wait and see what steps will be taken,” Irakli Margvelashvili points out.
