ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2021
Patients' access to drugs with rebates in Switzerland - Empirical analysis and policy implications for drug pricing in Europe.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Clinical Development, Regulatory, and Reimbursement Review Duration of New Drugs in the US and European Countries.JAMA health forum · 2026Article
- The impacts of pricing and reimbursement policies on access to cell and gene therapies across Europe.Journal of community genetics · 2026Review
- Confidential and non-confidential drug rebates in Switzerland, 2013-2023: empirical analysis of drug rebates, trends over time and re-evaluations.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Article
- Cost Effectiveness and Budget Impact of Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab Versus Platinum Plus Pemetrexed (with and Without Bevacizumab) in Patients with Unresectable Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Switzerland.PharmacoEconomics · 2023Article
- European governments should align medicines pricing practices with global transparency norms and legal principles.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Implications of drugs with rebate in Europe.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMany European countries introduced (confidential) rebates in the past years. Authorities and manufacturers argue that this strategy allows reduction of spending on high-cost drugs, and quick access of innovative drugs. We evaluated these arguments using Switzerland as an example, one of the last countries with transparent rebates.
methodsWe identified all drugs granted rebates in Switzerland and all new drugs without rebates between January 2012 and October 2020. We assessed the amount of introduced drugs with and without rebates over time, clinical benefit of drugs with rebates, and duration between approval and price determination.
findingsOur study cohort included 51 drugs with rebates, the majority were cancer drugs (32; 63%). 15/51 (29%) had high clinical benefit, 25/51 (49%) low benefit and for 11/51 (22%) benefit could not be assessed. The number of drugs with rebates increased in recent years. Time duration between approval and price determination was 302 days in median for drugs with and 106 days for drugs without rebates.
interpretationDrugs with rebates may hamper access to drugs and lead to overpayment. Improving transparency on actual drug prices and stronger cooperation between countries could help national authorities to make better informed pricing decisions, and improve access of innovative drugs to patients.
fundingThis study was partially funded by the Swiss Cancer Research Foundation (Krebsforschung Schweiz) and the Swiss National Foundation (SNF).
Identifiers
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.