The COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on the world, including on Health Technology Assessment (HTA). The debate on how HTA should change as a result of COVID-19 is gaining momentum, but could a wider approach to value and a higher threshold be a false dawn?

The signs suggest that Nicola Magrini, the new director general of the Italian medicines regulator, AIFA, will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor in fighting for transparency in drug pricing.

In Belgium, there are increasing tensions between drug price transparency and getting the best deal for the Belgian government.

Drug pricing is an issue that is not going to go away. For many the problem relates to prices being too high, for others it is simply that the real prices paid for products is not clear, nor is it transparent how those prices come about. 

The new appointments to the top jobs at NICE may bring continuity at a challenging time for the institute, but perhaps not the real change that some in the industry say is needed. 

Innovation is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “(the use of) a new idea or method.” The term is bandied about a great deal in the life sciences industry. Is it actually helpful to use the term so widely, or does the sector risk overlooking true innovation? This can be applied not only to the drugs coming to market, but how they are paid for as well.