Day of Dialogue on Public Sector Pricing of Pharmaceutical Products

For decades, patients, doctors, ethicists, and other interested parties have debated the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. What is the best way to get medications and related products to the people who need them, regardless of their ability to pay? Can prices be lowered without jeopardizing basic research for new drugs? Are pharmaceutical company pricing practices monopolistic? What are the legal and ethical obligations related to drugs developed—partially or fully—with public funds? The Population Council convened a daylong meeting of academics, scientists, representatives from the nonprofit sector, the pharmaceutical industry, foundations, and government donor agencies, and practicing lawyers and doctors. The Day of Dialogue explored ways of getting medicinal products—especially those invented and developed using public funding—to the poor people of the world. Topics discussed, and detailed in this document, include Economics of Pharmaceutical R&D and Pricing, Ethical Considerations in Public-Sector Pricing of Pharmaceutical Products, The Bayh-Dole Act and Its Effect on the Availability of Products Developed with U.S. Public Funding, and Alternative Models of Differential Pricing for Medicines