OBJECTIVES: Turkiye uses international reference pricing (IRP) to determine the prices of medicines. The aim of this study is to analyze the results of IRP in Turkiye for 2021.

METHODS: The study data was obtained from the Detailed Medicine Price List on December 25, 2021. The analysis was conducted via Microsoft Excel. The original and generic status, country-based distribution, manufacturer’s sale price and reference pricing of medicines were analyzed. Medicines for which Turkiye is used as a reference country, medicines with more than one reference countries, non-reimbursement medicines, non-prescription medicines, single generic medicines without equivalents and traditional herbal medicines were not included within the scope of this research.

RESULTS: A total of 7,156 medicines were examined and 5,684 of them were generic medicines while 1,832 were original medicines. 19% of original medicine prices had references from Greece, 16% from France, 13% from Italy and 11% from Spain; 28% of the generic medicine prices had references from Greece, 22% from France, 16% from Italy and 12% from Spain. It was found that 11% of the original medicines and 3% of the generic medicines had references from Germany, the country which is not present in the official reference countries for Turkiye. The average manufacturer’s sale price for the original medicines was calculated as 2,209 TL and the one for the generic medicines as 225 TL in Turkiye.

CONCLUSIONS: It was found that Greece was the country that was mostly considered as the country of the reference price in Turkiye, although differences were present between the prices for original or generic medicines.