Pricing of medicines as a factor influencing access to treatment

Abstract

The article is devoted to the topic of access to treatment, and the issue of pricing as one of the factors that significantly affect the ability of the population to access treatment through the purchase of medicines, including expensive branded medicines that are not covered by government programs that provide such medicines free of charge. High medication costs can pose substantial barriers, particularly for those not covered by state programs, exacerbating health inequalities and hindering widespread access to necessary treatments.
 The article focuses on the existence of two pricing systems in the pharmaceutical market, namely, the state and market pricing. The aforementioned pricing systems are among the mechanisms for providing pharmaceutical care to the population in Ukraine. It is also argued that pricing is based on demand, cost, supply, and commodity and money circulation.
 The article presents the US experience of pricing and the problems of consumers who face the need to overpay for branded medicines by a significant number of times compared to European consumers.
 This dynamic reflects the delicate balance between the pharmaceutical industry’s need for fair returns on innovation investments and the imperative to make essential treatments financially accessible to the broader population.
 It is noted that the high price of medicines is due to the influence of numerous factors, including increased demand, insufficient supply of cheaper generic drugs on the pharmaceutical market, patent protection, and significant investment in the development and research of new medicines. At the same time, it is argued that the use of managed access agreements, along with both state and market pricing, can be a deterrent to the growth of prices for branded innovative medicines.