Pfizer experimenting with new payment models in China

Pfizer is launching a new pay-for-performance system to cover the breast cancer drug Ibrance in China. The program will reimburse enrolled patients up to 33.5 percent of the cost of treatment, based on whether they see disease progression or metastasis, BioCentury reports. Only 500 patients will be involved in this program.

Pay-for-performance is looking like an increasingly popular option with some treatments in the U.S., particularly gene therapy. However, payors stateside remain leery.

Ibrance was just approved in China last August.

“This is clearly new for China, and we are looking for this to be a model for other markets,” Christopher Ariyan, head of the oncology field of global emerging markets at Pfizer, told China Daily. “Every market is unique, but we hope we can expand the model for a lot of our other markets.”