Access and Competition
Biologics are significantly more expensive than small-molecule drugs; one (US) estimate shows that the average price differential for daily treatment is a factor of more than 20. The New York Times reported in 2009 that the top six biologics in the US accounted for over 40% of the Medicare Part B (public health insurance for the elderly) drug budget.The combination of high costs and rapidly growing demand with growing pressure on healthcare budgets threatens to limit patient access to these essential medicines. In a landmark case in 2010, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled that the maximum cost to a health insurer that could be considered reasonable per human life year saved was 100 000 Swiss francs – less than the annual cost of some existing medicines.1
Until recently, many of these medicines have faced relatively little competition. However, by 2015, it is estimated that biologics worth an estimated USD 63 billion in annual global sales – approximately 40% of the projected total biologics market – will have lost patent protection. By 2020, that figure is expected to rise to well over USD 100 billion, or the size of the total global biologics market in 2010.
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- Neue Züricher Zeitung, February 2011
