REPORT PREDICTS INTERNATIONAL PUSH TO CUT DRUG COSTS

Governments in most of the major pharmaceutical markets are likely to intensify their efforts to cut drug costs in the coming years, according to a report by Research and Markets.

Recent initiatives to reduce drug costs are signs that more cuts are coming, says the firm's 2005 Chartbook for International Pharmaceutical Prices. "Governments in six of the seven major markets either have recently cut the prices of some medicines or are contemplating such action in the near future. These changes will increase the downward pressure on drug prices in all of these markets," the report finds.

Off-patent products will face the sharpest price cuts, but drugs that have either unique mechanisms of action or offer a clear advantage over other types of therapies will be "largely spared the worst effects of price-cutting," the study said.

The report also analyzed price differences among the major pharmaceutical markets. While prescription drugs prices were generally higher in the U.S., the prices for biologics were less than in other markets.

In 2004, the average prices of 70 of the world's best-selling prescription medicines, expressed as a percentage of U.S. average prices, were 65 percent in France, 70 percent in Germany, 56 percent in Italy, 58 percent in Spain, and 68 percent in the United Kingdom. Japanese prices for these drugs, subject to their availability, averaged 87 percent of U.S. average prices, the report found.

The report is available at www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32018 (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c32018).