Assessing the Pricing Trends of Repurposed Medicines in the United Kingdom

OBJECTIVES: Drug repurposing refers to the re-development of existing pharmaceutical active ingredients and includes shifting to new indications (drug repositioning), new formulations (drug reformulation) or combining existing medicinal products (drug combination). There has been increased focus on the benefit of repurposing in recent years, particularly given the repurposing of medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is limited research assessing the impact of repurposing on pricing. This study evaluates the pricing change for a sample of medicines before and after repurposing in the UK.

METHODS: A set of 24 repurposed medicines were identified from published literature. UK pricing data was extracted from the BNF for the years 2007 and 2021. Prices were compared within a single year (2021) and over time (2007-2021) for original and repurposed products. Attributes of each medicine were compared to significant predictors of price change for repurposed medicines from a published regression analysis.

RESULTS: In 2021, prices of repurposed drugs compared to their original source drugs varied as follows: for 7 active ingredients, prices of the repurposed drugs were higher; for 6, they were lower; and for 10, they were similar. For 22 active ingredients we compared the repurposed drug price in 2021 with the indexed originator price in 2007 and observed price increases for 16 products. Four medicines were considered outliers due to significant price increases (over 2,000%). Expected predictors of price change (such as repurposing to an orphan indication) did not align with results of the published regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS: This analysis demonstrates a variable pricing impact of medicine repurposing, although there are examples where medicines have achieved significant price increases following repurposing. While there is a growing body of research focusing on the clinical benefits of repurposing, further work is required on the commercial considerations for pharmaceutical companies launching repurposed medicines.