STAT: Where was differential pricing at the WHO Fair Pricing Forum?
Ed Schoonveld, managing principal and leader of the value and access practice at ZS Associates

“…The complexity of the economics of drug development and lack of transparency about drug prices and R&D investments is infuriating many stakeholders. That sentiment is being fueled by the claims of some academics … that the actual manufacturing costs for many drugs can be quite low. As a result, governments are calling for transparency while nongovernmental organizations are calling for delinking R&D from drug development … Finding common ground among stakeholders is an essential ingredient toward reaching patient solutions for high-cost drugs. … Nongovernmental organizations and patient advocacy groups tend to favor differential pricing [– allowing prices to vary in different countries based on affordability levels –] although some would prefer the more blunt compulsory licensing option. … But such solutions must be pursued in close collaboration between middle- and lower-income countries, higher-income countries, the pharmaceutical industry, and patient organizations…” (4/29).