April 11, 2014
In many emerging and developing countries, due to issues such as undeveloped health care systems, most patients in these countries are forced to bear the full cost of purchasing prescription medicines. In order to provide more patients with access to our products globally, Eisai believes that providing products at prices in consideration of income levels and health care systems of each country is very important, and has been promoting such affordable pricing strategies in developing countries using various models.
For example, we already provide Aricept®, an Alzheimer's disease treatment, in Indonesia, and Revovir®, a treatment for patients of chronic hepatitis B, in the Philippines, at lower prices relative to developed countries such as the U.S., Europe and Japan, helping provide patients on low incomes access to these medicines.
In October 2013, we introduced tiered pricing, another affordable pricing model, for sales of the anticancer agent Halaven® in India, where prices are set at several levels in accordance with the income levels of patients within the same country, ranging from the full purchase price to free provision.
Also, Eisai is supplying 2.2 billion tablets of diethylcarbamazine (DEC), a therapeutic agent for lymphatic filariasis, from the Vizag Plant in India to the World Health Organization (WHO), at price zero (free of charge), contributing to the health of the people in endemic countries as well as the economic growth of such countries by enhancing the national levels of health. Eisai regards this initiative as a long-term investment in the formation of future markets, providing more than a one-time charity donation can offer.
Through these efforts, Eisai aims to create sustainable business models that make affordable pricing possible, and help provide medicines to more patients around the world.