Health Minister: psychotropic drug prices cut up to twelvefold without compromising quality

The price of certain psychotropic medicines has fallen by as much as 12 times following regulatory changes, while product quality has remained unchanged, Georgian Health Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze has said.

Speaking about access to medicines and treatment, the Minister described the issue as one of vital importance and said it was fair to ensure a system that guarantees both quality and affordability for citizens.

Sarjveladze noted a reference pricing mechanism already applies to a large proportion of medicines. At a meeting of the Government’s coordination commission held today, officials and sector representatives discussed the effectiveness of this system, as well as the possibility of extending price regulation to additional medicines.

“It is a fact that reference pricing has been working so far. As in many developed countries, it has been introduced in Georgia and has delivered positive results. Reference prices have already been determined and are in force for around 7,000 medicines. This is a dynamic process,” he said.

The Minister noted that feedback from the pharmaceutical sector had been constructive, with broad recognition that reference pricing is one of the primary tools for regulating medicine costs. He added that the sector appears open to applying the approach to other medicines as well.

Sarjveladze stressed that price regulation cannot be effective without strict quality control. He said it remains a state priority that any medicine placed on the market meets established quality standards.

“In terms of quality control, strict compliance with minimum standards is essential. A medicine that fails to meet these standards should not enter the market, regardless of how attractive its price may be for businesses, patients or doctors. Significant legislative amendments were also introduced last year, including the practical enforcement of so-called GMP standards. These issues were also discussed at today’s meeting,” he said.

Pointing to concrete examples, the Minister said the balance between price and quality was already evident.

“When we talk about quality and price, for instance, following regulation of psychotropic medicines, prices in some cases have fallen twelvefold, and in others eightfold. We are referring to the price of a specific medicine, not to the introduction of a lower-quality, cheaper product. The same quality, the same product is now available at a reduced price. Therefore, we are dealing with a price reduction under unchanged quality conditions,” Sarjveladze said.