[Ip-health] FT: Pfizer launches tiered-pricing in emerging markets

[Suerie Moon]

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Pfizer launches e-payment systemThe Financial Times
By Andrew Jack in London

Published: February 8 2010 01:43 | Last updated: February 8 2010 01:43
Pfizer,
the world=E2=80=99s largest pharmaceutical group, is launching a system of
electronic payment for medicines that links it directly with patients
in many of the world=E2=80=99s fastest-growing economies.
The company
this month launches its eCard programme in Russia with the aim of
reaching 500,000 patients over the next year, and is gearing up for
similar rapid expansion in Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela.
The move could help boost use of high-priced drugs by providing discounts t=
o the majority of patients in emerging countries
who have to pay for their own medicines, while raising concerns about
direct access to personal medical information by a pharmaceutical
company.
Jean-Michel Halfon, head of emerging markets for Pfizer,
said: =E2=80=9CThe eCard is an innovative way to partner with society, pati=
ents
and governments, to help manage chronic diseases at an affordable
price.=E2=80=9D

Each patient presents their eCard to the pharmacist to receive
an automatic discount on the normal retail price, giving Pfizer
information on the drug purchases to reimburse the difference to the
pharmacist and track patient use directly.
By allowing it to
offer discounts of up to 50 per cent to patients on the pharmacy price,
the move may help boost access to expensive drugs by making them more
affordable, while increasing Pfizer=E2=80=99s sales.
It will also allow
the company to monitor when patients are not returning for regular
repeat prescriptions for their medicines for long-term chronic
conditions, allowing it to contact patients to remind them to take
their drugs =E2=80=93 and further boosting sales.
But the pricing
discounts may also trigger concerns that they influence doctors=E2=80=99
prescriptions, switching away from the most medically appropriate drug
to a decision based on affordability. It also breaks the traditional
arms=E2=80=99 length relationship with pharmaceutical companies, designed t=
o
limit access to confidential personal data and prevent direct marketing
without the intermediary role of a medical professional.
Pfizer
first launched its eCard in the Philippines six years ago, where 2.2m
patients are now in the system. It has since recruited another 110,000
in Indonesia and 18,000 in Malaysia. Apart from Russia, Mexico, Brazil
and Venezuela, it plans to expand in Ukraine, the Caucasus and other
Latin American markets in the coming months.
Patients receive
reminders to take their medicines, educational information about their
disease, and are eligible for discounts of 15-50 per cent.
Drugs
the company offers through the programme are typically those for
long-term chronic conditions including Lipitor, its
cholesterol-reducing medicine. It said its experience with Norvasc, its
blood pressure control drug, showed patient adherence to the medicine
rose 162 per cent as a result of the programme.