Does the pharmaceutical industry interfere in the sustainability of the public health system in Brazil? A reflection on the pressure for the incorporation of medicines

Abstract

The objective is to analyze the contribution of the pharmaceutical industry to the sustainability of the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS), based on the pressure for the incorporation of medicines. For this purpose, a descriptive study was conducted on requests for the incorporation of medicines sent to Commission for Incorporation of Technologies in the SUS (CONITEC) from 2012 to 2020. Characteristics such as technology indication, economic evaluation, financing component, public consultation, and CONITEC decision were analyzed. The results were compared according to the type of solicitor using statistical tests. 514 requests were analyzed, of which 438 related to incorporation. The pharmaceutical industry accounted for 37% of the requests and 33.5% of the incorporations. Differences were observed between the solicitors regarding the type of economic evaluation and incremental cost-utility ratio value, with half of the industry's demands above the threshold of 3 PIB per capita/QALY. The pharmaceutical industry obtained more contributions in public consultations of its requests and presented concentration of requests for antineoplastic and immunomodulatory agents and for anti-infectious, especially for hepatitis C and HIV. There was also a lower number of demands from the pharmaceutical industry in the Basic and Strategic Components of Pharmaceutical Assistance. Our findings point to the tension between the significant participation of the industry as an applicant, the high mobilization of public consultations, the emphasis on Specialized Component drugs, and CONITEC's resistance to this pressure, with a tendency of greater refusal and greater participation of other solicitors in requests for expansion of use, exclusion, and incorporation of drugs that are less requested by the pharmaceutical industry.