Johnson & Johnson has promised to reimburse Britain's National Health Service when patients don't respond to its blood-cancer drug Velcade, and France's health-care service says it has discussed
pay-for-performance contracts with GlaxoSmithKline.
Drug companies are considering these deals instead of lowering prices, in part because they are fearful of setting precedents that would
cause insurance payers worldwide to demand price cuts.
Health-care payers in the U.S.--which include employers and insurance companies--have traditionally been more generous than European
health-care services in paying for new drugs. Even so, insurer Aetna Inc. is exploring pay-for-performance deals with drugmakers, says Ed Pezalla, national medical director for Aetna Pharmacy
Management. And Thom Stambaugh, chief pharmacy officer at Cigna Corp., says the insurer is also pursuing ways to make drug companies more accountable.
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