Posted by Michael Wonder on 22 Apr 2021
New analysis shows international reference drug pricing would have a catastrophic impact on Alzheimer's disease research
22 April 2021 - Proposed policy would likely eliminate future clinical development programs in Alzheimer's research, impacting millions of patients and their families.
The number of Americans aged 65 and older with Alzheimer's disease is expected to more than double from 6.2 million today to 12.7 million by 2050. Currently, there are no treatments available to stop or slow the progression of the disease. At the same time, large pharmaceutical companies have already downsized investment into Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders by more than 50% due to the associated high risk of study failure for these diseases.
International reference pricing proposals (including "International Pricing Index" or "Most Favored Nation"), currently under consideration by the U.S. Congress and proposed in the previous Congress as Title I of H.R. 3, would import foreign price controls for 125 Medicare Part B and D drugs with the highest net spending based on the volume-weighted average of drug prices in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
