South Africa's largest private healthcare funder, Discovery Health, and one of the worlds leading pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, have reached an agreement that will make the cholesterol drug Lipitor more affordable for South Africans.
Pfizer has agreed to drop the single exit price (SEP) for 10mg strength of Lipitor. In turn, Discovery Health has agreed to raise its Chronic Disease Amount on its Comprehensive plans to cover Lipitor 10mg in full - as long as members obtain the drug from a pharmacy that charges Discovery members a 26%/R26 dispensing fee.
According to Jonathan Broomberg, head of strategy and health policy at Discovery Health, members of Discovery Health Medical Scheme who are on one of the Comprehensive plans will not be subject to any co-payments at the more than 80 pharmacies countrywide that charge Discovery members the 26%/R26 dispensing fee. The new pricing structure will be effective from 9 February 2007.
Those who purchase Lipitor 10mg at other pharmacies will be subject to a co-payment, but this will be significantly lower than before, at approximately R22.
"This is a positive and proactive step by Pfizer to help us meet the challenge of making world-class medical care available to more South Africans," says Broomberg. "This is a classic case of a large healthcare funder and a leading drug manufacturer using their scale to the benefit of all consumers.'
Says Broomberg: "While Discovery Health members will benefit from the lower price and the comprehensive cover we are now offering, the agreement makes Lipitor more affordable for all South Africans."
The move by Discovery Health and Pfizer follows a similar agreement reached between Discovery Health and Schering-Plough late last year, to reduce the price of the anti-inflammatory drug for rheumatoid arthritis, Revellex.
Schering-Plough reduced the cost of Revellex by 17.5% from the 1st of November 2006 and initiated a waste management programme to reduce the cost of treatment which allowed Discovery to drop the requirement that members pay for 20% of the cost of the drug for all Revellex treatments.
Revellex is a biologic drug manufactured by Schering-Plough and used mainly to ease the symptoms and stop the progression of rheumatoid arthritis.
Broomberg says it is encouraging to see large pharmaceutical companies working with Discovery to make drugs more affordable. "In two instances now we have seen manufacturers cut the price of drugs, against a backdrop of an overall 5% rise in the single exit price for drugs," he says. "We look forward to announcing similar agreements in future."