On Monday, October 15, 2018, member companies of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced a renewed commitment to providing more transparency about medicine costs. In the coming months, PhRMA member companies’ direct-to-consumer television ads will soon direct patients to information about medicine costs, including the list price of the medicine, any expected out-of-pocket costs or other information about potential costs of the medication, and available financial assistance.
In addition, the biopharmaceutical industry will launch a new platform that will provide patients, caregivers, and providers with cost and financial assistance information for brand-name medications, in addition to other patient support resources.
On October 2, 2018, the PhRMA Board of Directors adopted new additions to the voluntary DTC principles, originally adopted in 2006. The DTC Principles have been expanded to include a new guiding principle, “All DTC television advertising that identifies a medicine by name should include direction as to where patients can find information about the cost of the medicine, such as a company-developed website, including the list price and average, estimated, or typical patient out-of-pocket costs, or other context about the potential cost of the medicine.”
All current PhRMA members have voluntarily committed to be a signatory on the updated DTC principles, and comments from Board members on this new approach can be found here.
The updated Principles will become effective April 15, 2019 while changes to PhRMA members DTC advertisements will take place in the coming months. Signatory CEOs and chief compliance officers will have to certify annually that they have policies and procedures in place to foster compliance with the updated principles.
Signatories who have agreed to the new Principles include: AbbVie, Allergan plc, Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Bayer Corporation, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Celgene Corporation, Daiichi Sankyo Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Novo Nordisk Inc., Pfizer Inc., Purdue Pharma LP, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
“Our member companies are taking a new approach to how they communicate about medicines in DTC television advertisements to make it easier for patients to access information about medicine costs,” said Stephen J. Ubl, president and chief executive officer of PhRMA. “The Administration and Congress have called on our industry to provide cost information in DTC advertisements, and our members are voluntarily stepping up to the plate.”
Reaction from PhRMA Member Companies
“Since 2016, Allergan has been focused on enhancing our patient assistance programs and working with policy makers and payers to facilitate access to our medicines. The new PhRMA DTC principles will give patients and consumers easier access to information that will help them understand how much they might pay for their medicines, and we view them as a natural extension of our social contract with patients.” – Brent Saunders, chairman and CEO, Allergan
“Today’s announcement is an important step in increasing price transparency and helping patients understand how the industry works to promote access to medicines through patient assistance and affordability programs. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, we believe patient affordability is a critical issue for our healthcare system and we are committed to transparency and improved access to ensure that our innovative medicines are available to patients.” – Giovanni Caforio, chairman and CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb
“We recognize that there is significant concern about the cost of healthcare in the US – and medicines in particular. We believe that more transparency around relevant and contextual information on cost throughout the entire healthcare system is in the best interest of patients. Today’s announcement by the pharmaceutical industry is a step in the right direction and aligns to GSK’s core value of Transparency.” – Jack Bailey, president, US Pharmaceuticals, GSK
“Novartis supports the DTC advertising principles put forth by PhRMA. This is another step forward to ensuring patients have all the information they need to understand their out of pocket costs to make the most appropriate and informed decisions about their prescription medicines.” – Vas Narasimhan, M.D., CEO, Novartis