Country: BELGIUM | Region: EUROPE | Type: Policy | Keywords: #courtofaudit #healthministry #managedentryagreements #pricingcontracts #transparency
PRICENTRIC BRIEF:
- The Council of State adopted a positive opinion on an SP.A and N-VA bill that would allow the Court of Audit full insight into the secret pricing contracts negotiated by the Minister of Health and pharmaceutical companies when it comes to expensive, innovative medicines
- The Court of Audit would only have access to future contracts, not those already concluded or currently ongoing, and the Court would only be allowed access to contracts at the request of the Parliament
- Previously, Minister of Health Maggie De Block’s decision to reimburse Novartis’ Lucentis (ranibizumab), a more expensive treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), rather than a cheaper variant, Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab) received backlash from parliamentarians, particularly Flemish Socialists, who doubted the prices she shared about these treatments
THE DETAILS
BRUSSELS, Belgium – The Council of State adopted a positive opinion on an SP.A and N-VA bill that would allow the Court of Audit full insight into the secret pricing contracts negotiated by the Minister of Health and pharmaceutical companies when it comes to expensive, innovative medicines.
The Court of Audit would only have access to future contracts, not those already concluded or currently ongoing, and the Court would only be allowed access to contracts at the request of the Parliament.
In Belgium, confidential deals account for almost 30% of the pharmaceutical budget, as these deals often allow for Belgians to access expensive innovative medicines at affordable prices.
However, current Minister of Health Maggie De Block came under fire for her decision to reimburse Novartis’ Lucentis (ranibizumab), a more expensive treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), rather than a cheaper variant, Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab).
In defense, De Block explained that Lucentis used to be expensive and reimbursed only for a shorter duration of treatment and, oftentimes, patients requiring longer treatment had to pay for Lucentis out of pocket (OOP). Cheaper than Lucentis, Avastin was offered to patients by ophthalmologists as an alternative, but “off-label,” meaning it wasn’t specifically developed for AMD.
“[Avastin] was not reimbursed but still cheaper than if you as a patient had to cough up the cost price for Lucentis itself,” said De Block.
Nevertheless, parliamentarians led by the Flemish Socialists didn’t believe De Block’s claims and introduced a law proposal to allow the Court of Auditors to assess the confidential parts of Managed Entry Agreements (MEAs).
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