Abstract
In This Issue.
In the fourth quarter of 2005, governments in several of the world's leading
pharmaceutical markets prepared the ground for major reforms to their drug
pricing and reimbursement systems. The United States readied itself for the
January 2006 launch of the new Medicare Part D outpatient prescription drug
benefit, and a leading pharmacy benefit management company made news with
plans to stimulate greater use of generics. The governments of France,
Germany, Spain, and Japan all prepared legislation that would introduce major
new cost-containment mechanisms into their respective health care systems. The
Italian government, however, undertook little in the way of new cost-cutting
activity. The U.K. government unveiled measures to expedite access to
innovative drugs (especially cancer therapies) and to extend new prescribing
powers to qualified nurses and pharmacists. In this report, we review major
events in the fourth quarter of 2005 in the pharmaceutical pricing,
reimbursement, and prescribing environment in the aforementioned countries and
the European Union. We focus on measures that health care payers are using to
curb their drug expenditures and to improve patient access to medications. We
conclude with an assessment of the outlook and implications for the
pharmaceutical industry.
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