Approvals and Prices of Systemic Antibiotics in Saudi Arabia and the United States

Abstract

Introduction Antibiotics is one of the therapeutic classes with the highest level of consumption in the world. Despite the global diffusion of antibiotics, their availability and prices vary by country. This study assessed differences in the availability and prices of systemic antibiotics marketed in the United States (US) and Saudi Arabia and evaluated the factors associated with the differences in prices of systemic antibiotics marketed in both countries. Material and Methods We collected regulatory data from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) and the average sales price (ASP) data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Saudi prices from the SFDA website. We concerted Saudi rials to dollars and current dollars to purchasing power parity dollars (PPS$). We conducted descriptive statistics and linear mixed-effects regression analysis using Rstudio. Results As of January 2022, 125 active systemic antibiotics were marketed in the United States and 68 in Saudi Arabia. The median $PPP Saudi/US price was higher for oral capsules and tablets (56.4%, n=71) than for oral suspension and syrup forms (33.2%, n=24). However, the median $PPP Saudi/US price of injectable forms was similar in Saudi Arabia and the US (94.9%, n=28). Strength (χ2 =29.19, p2=36.76,p2=36.58,p Conclusions Half of the systemic antibiotics marketed in the US were also available in Saudi Arabia. The PPP prices of antibiotics were lower in Saudi Arabia than in the US, except for injectable drugs. PPP price differences between Saudi Arabia and the US varied according to the drug form and strength and the country of incorporation of the marketing company.