Vokó, Zoltán Kaló, Zoltán Alabbadi, Ibrahim Ghaleb Al Ahdab, Ola Alowayesh, Maryam Elmahdawy, Mahmoud H Al-Saggabi, Abdulaziz Luigi Tanzi, Vito Al-Badriyeh, Daoud S Alsultan, Hamad Mohamed Hussain Ali, Faleh H Elsisi, Gihan S Akhras, Kasem Kanavos, Panos Implications of external price referencing of pharmaceuticals in Middle East countries <div><p>Introduction: External price referencing (EPR) is applied frequently to control pharmaceutical prices. Our objective was to analyse how EPR is used in Middle Eastern (ME) countries and to compare the price corridor for original pharmaceuticals to non-pharmaceutical services not subjected to EPR. Methods: We conducted a survey on EPR regulations and collected prices of 16 patented pharmaceuticals and 14 non-pharmaceutical services in seven Middle Eastern (ME) countries. Maximum and minimum prices of each pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical technology were compared to mean prices in the countries studied by using market exchange rates. Influencing factors of pharmaceutical prices were assessed by multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: The average price corridor is narrower for pharmaceuticals (−39.8%; +35.9%) than for outpatient and hospital services (−81.7%; +96.3%). Conclusion: Our analysis revealed the importance of population size and EPR implementation on drug price levels; however, EPR results in higher pharmaceutical prices in lower-income countries compared to non-pharmaceutical services.</p></div> Middle Eastern;pharmaceutical;service;epr;drug price levels;External price referencing;Middle East countries Introduction;market exchange rates;price corridor 2015-11-02
    https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Implications_of_external_price_referencing_of_pharmaceuticals_in_Middle_East_countries/1615930
10.6084/m9.figshare.1615930.v1