[Ip-health] Inexpensive medicine not solution for real health-care savings

[Joan Ramos]

FYI, commentary from " celebrations for April 14 Novartis Medicine and
Pharmaceuticals Day" held in Istanbul.

Joana

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http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=70956

Inexpensive medicine not solution for real health-care savings
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Turkish Daily News

BUSINESS REPORT



'Currently, in terms of turnover, medicine prices are 17 percent cheaper
in Turkey than the cheapest available in Europe,' said professor Emin
Kansu. Inexpensive medicines that are marketed by India and China and
that doctors refrain from prescribing are now purchased in Egypt for
saving purposes

TUTKU AYVAZ
ISTANBUL - Referans

Chairman of the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies
(AIFD) Altan Demirdere thinks the government's implementation and
changes in refund lists in the health system for inexpensive medicine is
not reasonable. AIFD and Novartis-Turkey head Dr. Demirdere added the
association also does not believe that the implementation is transparent
enough.

Demirdere emphasized discounts in the prices of medicine and on-going
changes in refund lists do not help savings in the health care system,
giving German health policy as an example. ?A new research conducted in
Germany proves that price cuts in pharmaceuticals failed to meet its
target. The country saving 14 billion euros in medicine during the last
three years spent 17 billion euros for treatment expenses only.? With
inexpensive medicine, expensive treatment not savings is achieved, said
Demirdere, suggesting rational use of medicine.



17 percent cheaper than the cheapest:

Commenting during the celebrations for ?April 14 Novartis Medicine and
Pharmaceuticals Day,? Demirdere criticized the government for selecting
the cheapest medicine instead of taking the average of five-country
references to determine the amount the state will pay for generic drugs.

Reference countries are the cheapest in the world as it is, Demirdere
added. ?We suggested for these countries to have an average price;
however, we ignore that and adopt the cheapest price instead. Currently,
in terms of turnover, medicine prices are 17 percent cheaper in Turkey
than the cheapest available in Europe.? Hacettepe University Oncology
Department Faculty Member Professor Emin Kansu, attending the same
event, pointed out medicines, which are marketed by India and China,
those that doctors refrain from prescribing, are now purchased in Egypt
for saving purposes. However, these cheap medicines will cause worldwide
trouble in coming years. As for the future of pharmaceutical research in
Turkey, Kansu told of a shortage in postgraduates for Research and
Development (R&D) programs, saying, the priority will be to bridge this
gap of 25,000 in the labor force.

Head of Corporate Research at Novartis professor Paul Herrling said the
company earmarks 19 percent of its annual budget for R&D and separates
Research and Development activities. There are on going development
studies in Turkey; however, Novartis is looking for some specific
criteria in countries to set up research centers. These are: Academic
proficiency, inter-university coordination, political stability and
intellectual property rights, Herrling listed. Novartis is already
examining the environment in Turkey for research centers. On the other
hand, the company realizes only 1 percent of its overall sales in
Turkey, and accomplished just 0.1 percent of its total activities for
developing medicine in the country. ?Turkey has an environment potential
that we could conduct clinical research at ten times its current level.?
Herrling added that the annual R&D budget of Novartis reaches $5-6
billion and $1-2 billion is allocated for development only.



Ireland cut corporate taxes:

Ireland Bioscience and Bioengineering Director Maurice Treacy shared the
experiences of his country in the pharmaceutical sector. He said the
Irish government cut corporate taxes to attract more foreign investors
and the country also has an upper hand when it comes to an educated
labor force. "We are a small country," Treacy said, "So, we concentrated
on an area that we feel strong about and possess expertise; we applied a
focused strategy. Thus, we have created an enormous base for
pharmaceutical companies." Ireland earmarks $3.8 billion for R&D, Dr.
Treacy added.

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Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
Seattle WA USA
Tel. +1-206-229-2420
http://ramoslink.info/
www.cancersurvivorsproject.org
www.healthyskepticism.org