Introduction:
Last Updated 4 March 2013
Decision Resources’ Market Access Tracker service for the Asia Pacific region explains the challenges and opportunities to gaining and maintaining favorable market access terms in the mature and emerging markets of Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea. Timely analysis of key events, regular webinar update presentations, and access to our team of experts will equip biopharmaceutical companies with the insight needed to evaluate the implications of the latest changes for their business and to assess the commercial outlook in each market.
Major reforms
are under way in South Korea that will have a dramatic impact on the
pharmaceutical industry. Following the ratification of important trade
agreements with the United States and the EU in 2011, South Korea plans to
revise its regulation of intellectual property protection and pricing and
reimbursement. These changes should make these processes more transparent and
predictable, which are long held goals of MNCs doing business in South Korea.
The government has also set a goal for South Korea to rank among the 7 largest
pharmaceutical exporters by 2020. At home, however, the pharmaceutical industry
will come under increasing pressure as the government continues to wrestle with
issues of access to treatment and affordability.
Scope:
Socioeconomic trends: Gross domestic product (GDP); per
capita gross national income (GNI).
Demographics: Overall population (projected to 2030); life
expectancy at birth (projected to 2030), median age and number of senior
citizens (projected to 2030); urban population (projected to 2030).
Healthcare system: Healthcare spending; health insurance coverage;
National Health Insurance; Medical Aid; long-term care insurance (LTCI) for the
elderly; out-of-pocket payments; provision of healthcare services; prescription
drugs as a source of revenue for healthcare providers.
Intellectual property protection: membership of the World
Trade Organization; patent protection; data exclusivity.
Pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement: Key decision
makers; health technology assessment; price negotiations.
Cost containment measures: Price-volume agreements;
triennial repricing; rearrangement of pricing for listed drugs; Market-Based
Actual Transaction Price (M-ATP) system; rebate penalties; generics;
prescription monitoring.
Outlook and implications for the pharmaceutical industry: New
drug pricing and reimbursement system in 2012; impact of free trade agreements
with the EU and the United States; 2012
Pharmaceutical Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Plan.
Exhibits: 17 data-rich tables and figures.