Vlerick expertise in Healthcare Management

1. Price transparency for innovative medicines does not result in lower prices for everyone

   Although it seems counterintuitive, a new simulation model shows that, without confidential price agreements, lower income countries will pay up to 12% higher prices and gain access to innovative medicines far later than richer countries. This conclusion goes against the assumption that total transparency about price agreements for new and innovative medicines for diseases with high unmet need would lead to more competition, lower prices for all, and greater availability of these medicines for more patients in more countries.

2. European emergency health fund is needed to limit the impact of future crises

   The unprecedented public health crisis caused by COVID-19 overstretched the structures and mechanisms of the European Union, in particular those that deal with emergencies. There is a need for deeper union and collaboration across the European health care sector, as well as a need for a significant financial cushion for rapid and predictably increasing funding. In their new policy paper, Professor David Veredas, Professor Simon Ashby and doctoral researcher Dimitrios Kolokas propose the creation of an Emergency Health Financing Facility (EHFF), which would limit the impact of a future crisis on the EU and its member States.