[Ip-health] Big Pharmas opposed Korean drug price policy

[heeseob nam]

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200606/kt2006061517150511950.htm=0D
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New Drug Policy Angers Multinationals=0D
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By Chung Ah-young=0D
Staff Reporter=0D
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Multinational drug manufacturers are opposing the Korean government=A1=AFs =
plan to allow only cost-effective drugs to be covered by national health in=
surance.=0D
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Their reaction came out after the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced =
the plan on May 3. to cut the prices of medicines manufactured by foreign c=
ompanies to reduce its soaring insurance coverage for medicines.=0D
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The ministry will introduce the so-called positive list system in September=
, under which only medicines with proven efficacy and price-competitiveness=
 will be covered by health insurance.=0D
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The insurance has so far covered most drugs regardless of their prices, so =
long as they are approved by the Korea Food and Drug Administration, and ar=
e widely prescribed by doctors.=0D
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However, under the proposed system, the government will determine a list of=
 drugs covered by the insurance according to price and efficacy.=0D
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The planned system will replace the current so-called "negative list system=
" in which the public health insurance system pays for nearly all medicines=
 and has to pay unnecessary costs for drugs of questionable therapeutic val=
ue.=0D
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The government will also exclude drugs of low quality from the insurance-co=
vered drug lists, dealing a blow to small and uncompetitive players.=0D
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However, since the ministry=A1=AFs announcement, the plan has drawn a stron=
g outcry from drug manufacturers operating both home and abroad.=0D
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The United States is also working on the issue with the drug pricing based =
on the positive list system in the ongoing talks of the free trade agreemen=
t (FTA) with Korea, likely putting a brake on the nation=A1=AFs health refo=
rm.=0D
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Multinational companies argued that their newly-invented and original drugs=
, which have already been undervalued in Korea, will be dealt a serious blo=
w by the plan.=0D
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Representatives of 26 multinational drug manufacturers of the Korean Resear=
ch-based Pharmaceutical Industry Association (KRPIA) yesterday held a press=
 conference against the plan in Seoul, claiming that it will ultimately bri=
ng negative effects for Korean patients.=0D
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They argued that under the proposed plan, multinational pharmaceuticals wil=
l be restricted from bringing newly-invented drugs into Korea due to the co=
mplicated procedures, thus discouraging them from developing new drugs.=0D
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The KRPIA said that it would limit Korean patients=A1=AF access to newly-de=
veloped drugs which might cure them.=0D
However, the Korean Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights (KFHR) h=
eld a protest rally against the KRPIA=A1=AFs position.=0D
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Members of the KFHR argued that the prices based on the planned positive li=
st system will reduce the rising costs of pharmaceuticals which took up 30 =
percent of the public health insurance expenditure in 2005 at 7.2 trillion =
won.=0D
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The price of newly developed drugs was 66 percent of the average of advance=
d countries in 2005.=0D
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The figure has sharply increased by 12.7 percent between 1998 and 2003, twi=
ce the average of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation an=
d Development (OECD)=0D
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They claimed that the system is widely adopted by other member nations of t=
he OECD member nations. The KFHR argued that multinational pharmaceutical c=
ompanies are flexing their muscles by interfering with the nation=A1=AFs he=
alth policy.=0D
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"Multinational drug manufacturers have piled up profits through the current=
 drug price policy. They already sharply raised the prices of newly develop=
ed drugs, mostly produced by foreign enterprises equivalent to the average =
of seven advanced countries," they argued.=0D
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The KFHR also said that their move is seen as an attempt to thwart the loca=
l pharmaceutical firms from reproducing the new drugs by extending the pate=
nt period.=0D
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The KFHR said that if the government accepts their demands, local drug pric=
es are expected to dramatically shoot up, likely forcing many patients to g=
ive up being treated due to the high costs.=0D
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Name-brand drugs generally cost more than generic drugs because marketers h=
ave to pay high patent fees to multinational drug firms.=0D
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Although local pharmaceutical companies have been developing a variety of g=
eneric drugs as patients want cheaper medication, the majority of the compa=
nies, along with multinational ones, have become more eager to sell name-br=
and medicines for higher profits.=0D
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chungay@koreatimes.co.kr=0D
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http://search.mk.co.kr/contentView.php?docid=3D400262&cid=3D0&key=3Ddrug&ck=
ey=3D=0D
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Health Ministry at Odds with Pharmaceutical Firms Over=A1=A6=0D
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* Health Ministry at Odds with Pharmaceutical Firms Over Drug Pricing The c=
ommittee for public health and multinational pharmaceutical companies in Ko=
rea are in a head-on collision over the price of the medicine in the Korean=
 market.=0D
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The health and medical association has held a meeting to protest against th=
e action taken by the Korea Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry Associat=
ion (KRPIA), which consists of 24 multinational research-based pharmaceutic=
al companies operating in Korea, as the KRPIA held a press conference at th=
e Westin Hotel in Sogong-dong to announce their objection over the price re=
duction plan in the national insurance scheme released by the Korean govern=
ment.=0D
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The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has already released a plan for s=
etting what the ministry asserted was a "reasonable price" on high-quality =
medicines after the ministry completed an evaluation of the new drugs.=0D
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The KRPIA has stated that the new medicine price policy after the launching=
 the 'Positive List of Medicines." About 26 multinational pharmaceutical Ch=
ief Executive Officers have attended the conference. Due to the complex pro=
cess to import new medicines, the multinational pharmaceutical companies ha=
ve become reluctant to make new medicines available in Korea. Thus, the hea=
lth and medical association has decided to take firm action to combat such =
a problem.=0D
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The health and medical association has stated that the new price list relea=
sed by the government is a policy which will help to reduce the medical exp=
ense that takes up about 30 percent of the health insurance fiscal costs. T=
his policy is currently implemented in the Organization for Economic Cooper=
ation and Development countries.=0D
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"The multinational pharmaceutical companies have gained excessive profits t=
hrough the negligent medicine price policy in Korea. They are trying to blo=
ck the production of generic medicines by lengthening patent periods and in=
creasing the average price of the medicines in seven advanced countries via=
 the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)," asserted an official from the =
health and welfare association.=0D
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If such an assertion is realized, the price of medicines will bloat and aff=
ect treatment regimens.=0D
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[Bo-yung Kim / CJB]=0D
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--=0D
HeeSeob Nam=0D
Patent Attorney=0D
IPLeft (www.ipleft.or.kr)=0D
The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry Bldg. 11F.=0D
45 4-ga, Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, 100-743, Korea=0D
Tel. +82-2-6050-1621 Mobile +82 11 470 1180=0D
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