OBJECTIVES

Private health insurance is widely accepted to play an important role in the push towards Universal Healthcare Coverage for many lower to middle income countries. Partnerships with private health insurers (PHIs) aim to improve patient access to innovative medicines, which is especially important in markets where access to such drugs through public insurance is less strong. The objective of this research was to evaluate the current active pharmaceutical company-PHI partnerships, former partnerships, regulatory hurdles, and trends that could impact partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

METHODS

This research was conducted through a targeted review of secondary sources, identifying stakeholders to interview for deeper insight. Interviews were conducted with private health insurance executives and regulators across MENA.

RESULTS

The viability and maturity of pharmaceutical company-PHI partnerships varies substantially across MENA, from relatively mature and experienced markets, such as the UAE, to nascent, but open, markets, such as Nigeria. In contrast, certain markets provide no or little opportunity for such partnerships including Saudi Arabia where such partnerships are prohibited, and Lebanon where such partnerships are not of interest to PHIs. Although often driven by cost-containment, examples of partnerships in MENA vary from risk sharing agreements with third party agencies for private payers (Lebanon), to a microinsurance product for the informal sector (Ghana), to provision of free health insurance to registered customers (Nigeria). Changing wealth, demographics and an increasing urban population, together with a drive for digitalization across the region is creating opportunities to access data on ethnic populations often neglected in clinical trials.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the lack of experience of many PHIs in the MENA markets to PHI-pharmaceutical company partnerships, investing in such partnerships may prove strategically advantageous, yielding access to valuable data and expanding the customer base across targeted populations in the MENA region.