Negotiations around Sativex ended in failure. The future of this cannabis-based drug in France is more uncertain than ever.
“For 15 years, France has always succeeded in bringing truly innovative molecules into its market. But faced with the budgetary constraints of the States and the very high prices of certain drugs, there will probably be, in the future, examples of failed negotiations. This is already the case for a drug ”.
ASMR non-existent
The president of CEPS, the state body responsible for negotiating the price of drugs marketed in France, was unleashed on Thursday by a small bomb. In front of an audience of representatives of pharmaceutical companies, gathered for the first Leem Summer Universities (1) in Paris, Dominique Giorgi called for the “responsibility of drug manufacturers” in the face of sometimes exorbitant prices. And by means of an implication, he evoked the fate of a “drug of ASMR (improvement of the actual benefit) 5, whose negotiation should lead to failure, except for a dramatic turn.
This drug is Sativex – Why actor was able to obtain confirmation. Negotiations around this cannabis-based drug have dragged on for several months. And from the start, they look very bad. Marisol Touraine had announced its marketing authorization (MA) for multiple sclerosis in January 2014, and its marketing in the first quarter of 2015. But the availability is regularly postponed. At issue: the inability to reach an agreement on the price.
“We can no longer give credit to the industry”
Contrary to other European countries, the French health authorities have indeed judged that the improvement of the actual benefit was non-existent. As such, they negotiate a price of 56 euros – 17% of the price initially offered by the laboratory. In a press release dated June 30, Almirall deplored an uncertain outcome regarding the marketing of Sativex. The latest CEPS statement should make the future of the drug in France even more uncertain.
“The pricing criteria for drugs must be reviewed by evaluating the real effectiveness of drugs – not that observed during clinical trials, but by taking into account their life in the general population, continued Dominique Giorgi from the forum, by evoking innovative molecules. We no longer have the means to give credit to the drug industry ”. At the Carreau du Temple, industrialists just have to take note.
(1) Pharmaceutical companies
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