OBJECTIVES: The family of antibiotics has numerous therapeutic equivalents, making it possible to increase therapeutic options. These structural innovations involve additional costs and therefore higher prices than the first-In class. However, their prices should not diverge significantly. The aim of this study was to analyse price discrepancies between therapeutic equivalents of the antibiotics family in Côte d'Ivoire.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey conducted from June 2022 to January 2023 was used to collect data on the prices of antibiotics registered on the pharmaceutical market. The first-In of each chemical subgroup according to the ATC classification, time-to-market between therapeutic equivalents, the number of generics and therapeutic indications were also recorded. Daily treatment costs were defined on the basis of the Define Daily Dose and unit prices. The relative price gaps were calculated to allow comparison between subgroups. A linear regression test was performed to explain price discrepancies.

RESULTS: A total of 37 drugs i.e 24.3% of antibiotics in the ATC classification, are registered in Côte d'Ivoire. The Fluoroquinolones subgroup was the least well represented (22.5%) but accounted for 30% of all generics. Time-to-market ranged from 1 to 43 years. Me-to-drugs are on average 152% more costly than first-in-class. The relative price gaps showed wide variability between chemical subgroups (-0.601 to 6.83). Time to market (r= -0.20), number of therapeutic indications (r = -0.016), number (r= 0) and average generic price (r= -0.17) could not tend to reduce the price gaps between me-too drugs and fist-in-class.

CONCLUSIONS: The high variability of prices between subgroups suggests the absence of any control over the regulation of antibiotic drug prices. A price control policy should help to better regulate the pricing of therapeutically equivalent medicines.