The way the price and reimbursement of medicines are determined varies a lot between countries. In some countries price and reimbursement are the result of negotiations between the pharmaceutical manufacturer and the government; in other countries negotiations involve insurance companies or intermediaries purchasing medicines on behalf of their customers. And in some countries governments make bulk purchases of medicine through so-called tender orders, an auction-like process to which several companies are invited to submit their best bid.
In the world’s poorest countries, we have made a special commitment called our Access to Insulin Commitment, to improve access to quality treatments for patients. We guarantee that we will provide low-priced human insulin in 77 Least Developed Countries as defined by the United Nations, other low-income countries as defined by the World Bank and middle-income countries where large low-income populations lack sufficient health coverage, as well as selected organisations providing relief in humanitarian settings. Our guarantee entails that we will provide human insulin in vials at a guaranteed ceiling price. The ceiling price from 1 August 2020 is set at USD 3.00 per vial. Additionally, the ceiling price is set at USD 2.00 per vial for organisations providing relief in humanitarian settings.
We believe new outcomes-based pricing models will contribute to better evaluation of the true value of medicines. While the models may be different from one disease area to another, and may be more difficult to implement in some areas than others, they should be based on the following principles:
We are committed to driving initiatives aimed at finding innovative, outcomes-based pricing models in close collaboration with other key stakeholders.