Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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PRESCRIPTION DRUG (RX) EVOLUTION IN ROMANIA BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020

PETRU CRĂCIUN 1, MARIAN PANĂ 1*, DUMITRU LUPULIASA 1, MARIA-DORINA CRĂCIUN 2,
ADRIANA-ELENA TĂEREL 3

1Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
2Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
3Department of Pharmaceutical Management and Marketing, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Carol Davila“ University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

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In Romania, there were implemented measures to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure, in line with other European countries. Romanian price regulation adopted on 1stJuly 2015 had the aim to modulate a price decrease in order to improve patient access to effective and affordable treatment, influencing the pharmaceutical market. As sufficient time has passed, we analysed the evolution of the prescription drug (Rx) segment and proposed improvements of the regulation. The main finding is that the first 30 treatment groups, which account for two-thirds of drug volume and over 80% of total treatment days, benefit from less than 40% of value, which poses a diffuse but very serious risk for the availability of drugs frequently used and therapeutically important. The second finding is that the growth rate in the rest of the therapeutic groups is significant, which affects the sustainability of the system and its budgetary balance. An average price mechanism for Rx drugs from therapeutic groups whose average prices do not exceed 50 RON (equivalent of 10 €) and a QALY (Quality-Adjusted Life Year) mechanism, plus other specific criteria, for groups that do not fall into the previous condition would be much more reasonable approaches for the Rx medicines prospects in Romania.