Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks on Australian PBS, Drug Pricing, and Tariffs

Australian PBS Challenges

• 💡 The Australian PBS system is an outlier for its slow market access for innovative drugs, particularly compared to G7 nations.
• 📌 Australia tends to undervalue real breakthroughs in medicine, which impacts global pricing and future investment.
• ⚠️ Delays in patient access are significant; for example, a breakthrough breast cancer medication took over 600 days to gain access.

Valuing Pharmaceutical Innovation

• 💰 Medicines should be priced for value, especially for truly innovative breakthroughs that have a real consequence on health.
• 📈 Undervaluing innovations can debase global price points and reduce the reward for investors, hindering future research and development.
• 🚀 Fair reward is crucial for pharmaceutical companies to continue investing in expensive and risky drug development.

US vs. Australian Drug Systems

• 🇺🇸 The US system allows immediate market access and values innovation, but is criticized for middlemen inflating drug costs.
• 🇦🇺 The speaker does not suggest Australia copy the US system, acknowledging its problems with transparency and cost.
• ✅ Key principles for reform in any market are time to market and reward for innovation.

Stance on Tariffs

• 🚫 Eli Lilly does not support tariffs on medications anywhere in the world, including Australian pharmaceutical exports.
• 🤝 Despite advocating for changes to the PBS, the company is not encouraging the use of tariffs to pressure the Australian government.

Regulatory Efficiency and Concerns

• 🔬 There's an opportunity for mutual recognition of regulatory approvals among developed nations to avoid replication, save taxpayer money, and speed up access.
• 🧠 Concerns exist regarding vaccine skepticism and its potential to negatively affect the FDA's science-driven regulatory review process.