Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: The Most Favoured Nation (MFN) pricing model, introduced in May 2025, represents a significant shift in US, and potentially global, pharmaceutical policy. The directive aims to benchmark US prices of high uptake drugs to the lowest prices paid in other high-income countries, to reduce overall pharmaceutical spending. While government officials claim this would lead to “almost immediate” price decreases of “30% to 80%”, experts are sceptical, arguing the MFN approach may invite serious challenges to the global pricing and access landscape. This research explores the pricing disparity between the US and other high-income OECD markets to quantify the potential implications of an MFN pricing approach, if it is adopted in the US.
METHODS: Publicly available information was screened to identify 25 therapies, which would likely meet criteria for MFN pricing (i.e., high uptake branded oncology medicines with both EMA and FDA approval). Pricing information for the following markets was extracted from the NAVLIN database on June 27th, 2025: US, Germany, UK, and Canada.
RESULTS: On average, the list price of branded oncology products was 54% lower in the OECD high-income countries than in the US (IQR: 42% - 63%). The lowest differential market was the UK (49%). Whereas the prices in Germany and Canada were lower, with average price differentials of 58% and 55%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis demonstrates a significant disparity in pharmaceutical pricing between the US and other high-income countries. If US prices were benchmarked to the list prices in these high-income markets, reductions of up to 80% could be expected. It will be interesting to monitor the industry response to mitigate impact on revenue streams. We anticipate re-evaluation of launch strategies, focusing on market revenue forecasting and optimal launch sequencing, and we may even observe an increase in deprioritization of lower price potential markets, enabling higher benchmarking for US prices.