Increasing Transparency of Public Funding in Pharmaceutical Research and Development Reporting

ISSUE: Escalating prices of innovative pharmaceuticals present challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. Meanwhile, current industry practices—including extensive share buybacks, strategic M&As, and reliance on public institutions to populate early R&D pipelines—raise questions about the true economics of innovation. Public contributions to pharmaceutical innovation remain systematically undervalued in pricing and reimbursement discussions. A lack of transparency and under- or overreporting of R&D expenditures lead to issues in decision making. Both the WHO and the proposed revision of the European pharmaceutical legislation call for more transparency. This session will explore practical recommendations for stakeholders to advance a more transparent, balanced approach to pharmaceutical innovation that serves both industry sustainability and public health needs. OVERVIEW: Transparency in pharmaceutical research and development reporting is a complex issue that can be addressed from different angles. This panel will enrich the debate bringing to the same table speakers coming from: a national payer organisation, a national HTA body and a European Pharmaceutical Industry umbrella organisation. The panel will begin with an overview provided by Daniel Fabian in approximately 10 minutes on a framework of analysis of public contributions. This research was funded by EC-grant agreement number 101095593 “HI-PRIX” to establish a framework of analysis for public contribution. A comprehensive taxonomy of these contributions includes direct funding mechanisms, infrastructure and capability development, and substantial academic and research institution support. The framework has been piloted on individual, and groups of products and is now being used in the Austrian appraisal board for pharmaceuticals. Policy discussions this panel will address include the role of fair pricing models to acknowledge public contributions to pharmaceutical R&D, the potential impact of increased transparency in facilitating informed negotiations, and how that all could contribute to building a more predictable and plane level field for innovators and decision makers across Europe alike.