Sanofi-Aventis chief calls for volume pricing

Gerard Le Fur, the chief executive of France-based drug major, Sanofi-Aventis, has suggested that the pharmaceutical industry will have to shift its pricing policies towards deriving revenue from sales volume, as opposed to price. Dr Le Fur added that "the price of biotherapies will reduce towards that of more classic drugs," in an interview with the Financial Times.

Rapidly-expanding markets of some developing countries, will provide the opportunity for firms such as Sanofi to pitch for volume, the French company's chief executive said. "For me, the future is in the South," he predicted. The current trend of escalating prices for new products "cannot continue," Dr Le Fur argued.

Dr Le Fur's comments on changing drugmakers' pricing strategies echo those of Bill Simon, head of pharmacy of the world's biggest retail firm Wal Mart, who argued in June that the existing pricing model for prescription drugs can and should be turned on its head (Marketletter June 4). Mr Simon argued then that, "we're trying to encourage [drug firms] to think about a 40-year brand at a $30 price point as being far more valuable than a six- or seven-year brand at a $100 price point."