Navigating through the maze of pricing and affordability of branded pharmaceuticals in the midst of the financial crisis: a comparative study among five European recession countries, from a Cyprus perspective

Table 4 Affordability for eight major health conditions

Condition	Products	Strength	Price (Eur) (Price calculated per monthly basis for each denoted strength )
Condition	Products	Strength	Italy	Greece	Portugal	Cyprus	Spain
Dyspepsia	Esomeprazole^a	20 mg	7,08	10,81	8,8	18,63	6,3
Diabetes	Januvia	100 mg	59,22	50,22	50,53	58,37	55,72
Osteoarthritis	Etoricoxib^a	90 mg	17,84	14,02	16,32	23,1	20,32
Blood pressure	Candesartan	16 mg	11,95	12,36	22,62	28,8	25,76
Hypercholesterolemia	Rosuvastatin	5 mg	22,49	11,27	17,01	28,74	18,9
Depression	Escitalopram^a	10 mg	24,97	13,23	11,52	15,39	16,66
Osteoporosis	Zolendronic acid^b	5 mg/100 ml	557,36	451,27	344,21	590,98	422,65
Asthma	Salmeterol/Fluticasone	25/50 μg	41,22	34,39	36,15	41,33	39,6
	Lowest monthly wage		992.4 [15]	878	565	870	748
	Catastrophic expenditure threshold		942.8	834	536	826	710

^aFor Esomeprazole, Etoricoxib and Escitalopram, the cost was calculated based on consumption for 28 days, thus calculating the cost of two packages
^bFor Zolendronic acid, the monthly cost was calculated, since this product is administered yearly

ISSN: 2052-3211