ArticleBMJ open2019
Estimation of cost-based prices for injectable medicines in the WHO Essential Medicines List.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Drug pricing models, no 'one-size-fits-all' approach: a systematic review and critical evaluation of pricing models in an evolving pharmaceutical landscape.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on Evaluation of WHO Core Prescribing Indicators Across Healthcare Facilities in Low Resource Asian Setting: A Case of Nepal.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingPooled it
- Affordable Prices Without Threatening the Oncological R&D Pipeline-An Economic Experiment on Transparency in Price Negotiations.Cancer research communications · 2022Trial
- The global economic burden of antibiotic-resistant infections and the potential impact of bacterial vaccines: a modelling study.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Estimating a Drug's Price After Loss of Exclusivity as a Function of Its Cost of Goods Sold.Applied health economics and health policy · 2025Article
- Detection and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella isolates from selected poultry farms in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Access microbiology · 2025Article
- Spending, utilization, and price trends for anti-obesity medications in U.S. Medicaid programs: an empirical analysis from 1999 to 2023.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Estimated Sustainable Cost-Based Prices for Diabetes Medicines.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Transitioning Long-Acting Products to a Generic Marketplace: What's Missing?Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Article
- Minimum Manufacturing Costs, National Prices, and Estimated Global Availability of New Repurposed Therapies for Coronavirus Disease 2019.Open forum infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Minimum costs to manufacture new treatments for COVID-19.Journal of virus eradication · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesChallenges remain in ensuring universal access to affordable essential medicines. We previously estimated the expected generic prices based on cost of production for medicines in solid oral formulations (ie, capsules or tablets) on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (EML). The objectives of this analysis were to estimate cost-based prices for injectable medicines on the EML and to compare these to lowest current prices in England, South Africa, and India.
designData on the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) exported from India were extracted from an online database of customs declarations (www.infodriveindia.com). A formula was designed to use API price data to estimate a cost-based price, by adding the costs of converting API to a finished pharmaceutical product, including the cost of formulation in vials or ampoules, transportation and an average profit margin.
resultsFor injectable formulations on the WHO EML, medicines had prices above the estimated cost-based price in 77% of comparisons in England (median ratio 2.54), and 62% in South Africa (median ratio 1.48), while 85% of medicines in India had prices below estimated cost-based price (median ratio 0.30). 19% of injectable medicines in England, 9% in South Africa, and 5% in India had prices more than 10 times the estimated cost-based price. Medicines that appeared in the top 20 by ratio of lowest current price to estimated cost-based price for more than one country included numerous oncology medicines-irinotecan, leuprorelin, ifosfamide, daunorubicin, filgrastim and mesna-as well as valproic acid and ciclosporin.
conclusionsEstimating manufacturing costs can identify cases in which profit margins for medicines may be set significantly higher than average.
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