The debate about drug pricing has reached a fever pitch. In early February 2016, the US Congress held a half-day hearing on pharmaceutical pricing. Long on spectacle and short on solutions, the meeting was a reminder that even in the US, the most “free” market for drug prices and access, there is widespread concern about the impact of rising drug costs on the sustainability of health care spending. Instead of viewing drugs as one of the most efficient and cost-effective solutions to illness, it’s clear the public views biopharmaceuticals – and the companies that make them – as one of the central problems contributing to an affordability crisis.
It is time to acknowledge that our historical pricing model, which is built on unit-based pricing, is too one-dimensional for...
