The aim of the study “Innovation for Life” is to emphasize the impact of innovations on healthcare in the Czech Republic and to provide verified data about innovative treatment to all stakeholders. Together with the consulting company EY and many experts, we have therefore mapped and quantified the impact of innovative treatment on patients' lives, the health and social security system and the Czech economy.
STUDY
„Medicinal products cannot be seen as a one-off expense, but rather as an investment. It is important to have a realistic view of the whole spectrum of expenses - not only healthcare expenses, but especially expenses in terms of the social security budget and pension insurance,” says Mgr. Jakub Dvořáček, MHA, executive director of the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry (AIFP).
Nine therapeutic areas
The study “Innovation for Life” focused on 9 therapeutic areas that show the challenges and illustrate the development and progress of innovative treatment with a quantifiable impact. Selected diseases were defined based on precisely given criteria. These are mostly areas with relatively high morbidity, prevalence and incidence in the Czech Republic.
Multiple sclerosis is one of the diseases that the study focused on. Innovative medicinal products, along with early diagnosis, not only prolong life expectancy, stop the progression of the disease and make it possible for patients to return to work sooner but also save healthcare and social security budget funds. “In 2010-2017, the state saved at least 560 million Czech Crowns just on shorter hospitalizations and a lower number of disability pensions. The study has discovered similar savings in other areas of treatment as well. We must be able to calculate the impact of innovative treatment since it represents rather large sums,” says Jakub Dvořáček.
Read more about the benefits in specific therapeutic areas:
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colorectal cancer
- Chronic myeloid leukemia
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Idiopathic intestinal inflammation
The entire system profits from innovative medicinal products
The study also looked at the economic benefits of the innovative industry. The pharmaceutical industry generates significant funds and a turnover with a relatively high multiplier effect through its activities and investments. The economic impact increased from 25 billion Czech Crowns in 2009 to 42 billion Czech Crowns in 2018. Every Czech Crown spent by AIFP generates an additional 2.4 Czech Crowns in the national economy.
„The social security budget benefits e.g. from disability pension savings and the healthcare budget from shorter hospitalizations. From a macroeconomic point of view, the innovative industry brings a high added value. The study has shown that innovative medicinal products represent an investment that pays off in the long run," says Jakub Dvořáček.
Respected experts and valid data
The co-author of the study is the consulting company EY. The following experts also collaborated on the study:
- Ing. Miroslav Zámečník, support and validation of economic impact calculation;
- prof. RNDr. Ladislav Dušek, Ph.D., calculation and validation of the demographic impact;
- Rut Bízková, support and validation of innovative challenges and opportunities;
- AIFP member companies, provision of data and statistics.
The calculations in the document are limited by data availability. The document is based on the NHIS (National Health Information System) database, CSSA (Czech Social Security Administration) data, AIFP’s internal data and publicly available data.
We would like to thank all experts and participants, without whom it would have been impossible to make the study.
(Note: The calculated savings are indicative and should not be considered final results. The purpose of the document is not to verify the data provided.)
