Willingness to pay brand premiums for generic medicines in Kenya: A bidding game experiment

Abstract

Background: Recent growth in the market share of higher priced branded generic medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has raised concerns around affordability and access. We examined consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for branded versus unbranded generic non-communicable disease (NCD) medicines in Kenya. Methods: We randomly assigned NCD patients to receive a hypothetical offer for either a Novartis Access-branded medicine or for an unbranded generic equivalent. We then analysed WTP data captured using a bidding game methodology. Results: We found that WTP for Novartis Access medicines was on average 23% higher than for unbranded generic equivalents (p=0.009). The WTP brand premium was driven almost entirely by wealthier patients. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the dominance of branded generics in LMICs like Kenya reflect in part consumer preferences for these medicines. Governments and other health sector actors may be justified in interven-ing to improve access to these medicines and equivalent non-branded generics, particularly for the poorest patients who appear to have no preference for branded medicines.