Pharmaceutical policy making raises particular challenges in reconciling key objectives for health policy, such as ensuring affordable access to the latest effective drugs, with other important policy considerations, such as providing support to a valuable national industry. Unusually among health policy issues, it also raises international considerations that further complicate decision making, particularly as the nature and extent of such considerations are not well understood. This report assesses how pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies have contributed to the achievement of certain health policy objectives. It examines the national and transnational effects of these policies, in particular, their implications for the availability of medicines in other countries, the prices of these medicines, and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. This publication presents an analysis of comparative price levels, making use of a unique dataset to construct the most comprehensive pan-OECD pharmaceutical price index to date. It also draws upon original case studies of pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in six OECD countries to provide specific examples of the impacts of policies on health system performance. Table of contents in English Executive Summary Chapter 1. Key Characteristics of the Pharmaceutical Sector in OECD Countries Chapter 2. the Pharmaceutical Industry and its Activities Chapter 3. Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement and the Broader Pharmaceutical Policy Environment Chapter 4. The Impact of Pharmaceutical Pricing Policies on Performance in Meeting Health Policy Goals Chapter 5. The Impact of National Pricing and Reimbursement Practices on Prices and Availability of Medicines in Other Countries Chapter 6. The Impact of Pharmaceutical Pricing Policies on Pharmaceutical Innovation Conclusions Glossary List of Abbreviations