Policy Brief | November 2024 | Download PDF
In 2019, WHO Member States adopted WHA 72.8, a milestone resolution that aimed to increase transparency in drug pricing and other related aspects. Five years on, what are the opportunities for greater transparency in pricing and procurement of medicines, clinical trials, and public funding of R&D, as well as the risks?
Based on research from a broader report with Wemos and other MIFA consortium partners which will be published in 2025, this policy brief provides recommendations to governments and other stakeholders.
Recommendations:
Governments must:
- Engage in comprehensive drafting, deliberation and implementation of national legislation on transparency in pharmaceutical markets. Medicine prices (procurement and reimbursement
negotiations and decisions) and other relevant costs must not be excluded from transparency rules. - Adapt national legal, administrative and regulatory frameworks to regional and global resolutions on transparency.
- Refrain from engaging in confidential negotiations and agreements with pharmaceutical companies, including MEAs.
- Commit to full transparency of public money or support invested in R&D.
Further:
- Disclosure of information generated during the life cycle of a clinical trial should be provided for all trials, not just successful ones, and should be made available within 12 months after the end of the trial.
- Clear enforcement and penalties must be put in place for non-observation of Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) transparency requirements. The CTIS must be adopted by all entities conducting clinical trials.