Drug prices can be cut without R&D losing out, study suggests

Experiment indicates that partial cost transparency can hamper R&D investment but full transparency preserves it

Full transparency on drug development costs could cut the price of treatments while preserving investments in R&D, according to a study—which comes as EU politicians work on updating the bloc’s pharmaceutical strategy, with a particular focus on cost transparency.

Researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the University of Amsterdam simulated the effect of sharing drug prices and R&D cost information between countries that were negotiating prices with the pharmaceutical industry.