Go-ahead for “pay for performance” for pharmaceuticals in Germany
About the author
Prof. Matthias P. Schönermark, M.D., Ph.D.
Founder and Managing Director
Founder and Managing Director
Fon: +49 511 64 68 14 – 0
Fax: +49 511 64 68 14 18
Fax: +49 511 64 68 14 18
Merck has chosen a possible approach to address this problem with its drug Mavenclad® (cladribine) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis: In the event of cladribine treatment failure, Merck will take over additional therapy costs within the treatment period, if patients treated unsuccessfully with Mavenclad® are switched to an alternative treatment. This agreement was reached between Merck and GWQ ServicePlus AG, a contract service provider for company health insurance funds, and is initially limited to four years. This strategy has been inspired by previous, partly complex reimbursement models already in place in the United States. For example, Sparks Therapeutics grants discounts to health insurers based on the efficacy of its product Luxturna™, a gene therapy drug. Likewise, Novartis has also established discount systems for its product Entresto®.
In the future, more and more companies will increasingly develop and apply innovative reimbursement models. SKC consulting closely follows these developments and regularly publishes about this topic (see also Gene therapy ante portas – Appropriate solutions for the reimbursement dilemma). As a leading strategy consultancy in the healthcare sector we focus on tailor-made price strategies for the pharmaceutical industry inter alia.
BY Prof. Matthias P. Schönermark, M.D., Ph.D., managing director and Dr. Angelika Deichmann
Sources:
Ärztezeitung: Merck zahlt Mehrkosten für MS-Therapie (German only)