OBJECTIVES:

Due to the high cost of Hepatitis C medications and lack of existing analyses on predictors of price reductions, this study analyzed global pricing trends of Hepatitis C medications. We assessed how much business competition driven by increased number of pharmaceutical manufacturers predicted price decreases over time.

METHODS:

Analysis was conducted by the authors using IQVIA MIDAS® Quarterly Sales data that reflects estimates of marketplace activity obtained under license from IQVIA. Copyright IQVIA. All rights reserved. MIDAS data used in this analysis was retrieved on February 5, 2020, covering 65 countries* for the period between 2012-2019. To observe pricing trends, a linear regression model was run examining the number of manufacturers for each medication, controlling for country income group, region, and medication.

RESULTS:

In total, 2,862 price points were analyzed across 8 Hepatitis C medications. Most of the data were from high-income countries (67%) compared to upper-middle income (10%) and lower-middle income countries (23%). The mean number of manufacturers per medication per year ranged from 1 up to 23. Between 2013 and 2019, prices of Hepatitis C medications decreased on average by 76% (range: 15%-79%) across medications with an average decrease of 20% per year (range: 9%-45%). Price decreases for each individual medication ranged from 15% (sofosbuvir|velpatasvir|voxilaprevir) to 79% (dasabuvir|ombitasvir|paritaprevir|ritonavir). Across all medications, increase in one manufacturer reduced the prices of Hepatitis C medications by $20.30 (p<0.001) controlling for country income, region, and year. The largest reduction in Hepatitis C medication price per GDP per capita were observed in France (50%), followed by Brazil (48%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Overall trends in price reductions of Hepatitis C medications were significantly associated with greater numbers of manufacturers. Ensuring adequate competition across all markets may be important to ensure Hepatitis C medications are affordable and accessible to more patients.

*ARGENTINA|AUSTRALIA|AUSTRIA|BANGLADESH|BELARUS|BELGIUM|BOSNIA|BRAZIL|BULGARIA|CANADA|CHILE|CHINA|COLOMBIA|CROATIA|CZECH REPUBLIC|EGYPT|ESTONIA|FINLAND|FRANCE|FRENCH WEST AFR|GERMANY|GREECE|HONG KONG|HUNGARY|INDIA|INDONESIA|IRELAND|ITALY|JAPAN|KAZAKHSTAN|KOREA|LATVIA|LEBANON|LITHUANIA|MALAYSIA|MEXICO|MOROCCO|NETHERLANDS|NEW ZEALAND|NORWAY|PAKISTAN|PERU|PHILIPPINES|POLAND|PORTUGAL|PUERTO RICO|ROMANIA|RUSSIA|SAUDI ARABIA|SERBIA|SINGAPORE|SLOVAKIA|SLOVENIA|SPAIN|SWEDEN|SWITZERLAND|TAIWAN|THAILAND|TUNISIA|TURKEY|UAE|UK|URUGUAY|US|VIETNAM