Public health policies for the common interest: rethinking EU states' incentives strategies when a pandemic reshuffles all interests

Abstract

The current pandemic has reorganised government priorities, putting the health sector in the first place. Historicly large research and development funds have been earmarked for preventive and therapeutic research. Furthermore, labor, state aid and other laws have also been urgently amended to minimize the negative economic impact. We are facing a situation where the globalization status quo and the welfare state have been compromised. However, this may present an opportunity to improve upon some crucial issues regarding the relationship between the different stakeholders in the health sector. In this paper, we discuss two main challenges: First, the eternal tightrope walks on getting ‘fair' medicines prices without compromising the industry ́s innovation incentives. Pharmaceutical pricing needs to balance ensuring access to patients and encouraging continuous innovation while not overburdening health care systems. Second, regulation. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to ntervene in the approval of new treatments and especially vaccines. Law must not be static especially in times of urgency, but rather facilitate the needs of society. In a context where the pharmaceutical industry has consistently beat the market in terms of Return On Investment since the 1950s, here we propose some guidelines on how the public-private collaboration could develop in the next few years.