Pharmaceutical industry faces rising revenue delays amidst P&R pressures

US policies are driving global price pressures.

Delays in converting approved medicines into revenue due to pricing and reimbursement (P&R) processes are emerging as one of the pharmaceutical sector’s most pressing challenges for the year ahead, according to a new report by GlobalData.

Industry experts now rank pricing pressure alongside innovation trends, warning that tougher price controls could slow launches, reduce revenues, and limit future drug development.

GlobalData’s survey, conducted from 28 September to 8 November 2025, found P&R delays scored 3.7 out of 5 in impact, just behind the top trends of artificial intelligence (AI), immuno-oncology development, rising complexity and cost of clinical trials, and personalised medicine.

On anticipated regulatory and macroeconomic challenges, P&R constraints were the third most negative factor, cited by 22% of respondents, behind only Trump administration actions and trade wars (36% each).

“These top three regulatory and macroeconomic price trends, when are expected to have a negative impact on the industry, all affect pharmaceutical prices,” said Milena Izmirlieva, senior director and head of health economics and market access research and analysis at GlobalData.

“Behind P&R constraints in the ranking for negative impact, four of the five trends identified by the respondents are also related to dug pricing: Inflation; the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the US; the Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy in the US; and International Referencing Pricing (IRP),” she added.

The report also noted that since the start of the second Trump administration, pricing pressures in the US have intensified, with global repercussions. The MFN policy effectively implements IRP in the US, a price-control mechanism used in more than 75 countries.

“IRP is commonly used by countries that are new to pharmaceutical price control – which the US is,” Izmirlieva said. “However, if used by a high-income country to reference the lowest price from countries with lower GDP/capita than its own, IRP can produce a very negative impact on access to medicines – due to delayed or cancelled product launches."

She added that the proposed US MFN plans could have significant global repercussions without guaranteeing lower costs for US patients.

Meanwhile, price negotiations under the IRA could have a more immediate impact. Currently applied to a limited number of medicines, the Maximum Fair Price (MFP) negotiated for Medicare is transparent and could serve as a reference for other countries, potentially compounding global pricing pressures.

Izmirlieva said that if other countries reference lower US MFP levels under IRP, and the US then references those same countries under MFN/IRP frameworks, it could trigger a global race to the bottom on drug prices. “Whilst current patients may benefit from lower prices, pharmaceutical revenues, the industry’s capacity to invest in drug development would be significantly undermined, ultimately reducing the number of new treatments reaching the market.”