Australian Industry Views Therapeutic Premiums

In Australia, criteria for entry are still to be developed for thePharmaceutical Industry Investment Program, the new support system for the industry due to start up in 1999 as a replacement for the Factor (f) scheme, However, these will be competitive, Pat Clear, chief executive officer of the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, said in an interview with the Marketletter.

Guidelines for the A$300 million ($224.6 million), five-year scheme to promote investment in the industry will be developed by the government and industry over the next few months, said Mr Clear. He added that unlike Factor (f), the new scheme will carry penalties for non-compliance.

The announcement of the PIIP had given the industry optimism, as had, on the same day, news of changes to pharmaceutical patent regulation, amending the Patent Act to extend patents by up to five years to achieve 20-year standard drug patents. But then, said Mr Clear, the revelation that therapeutic group premiums, or reference prices, would commence next February for six classes of commonly-prescribed drugs (Marketletter May 26) flew in the face of all this support.