To answer the question about which medication has more price-inelastic demand, we need to understand the concept of price elasticity of demand. According to Feldstein, price elasticity of demand is the percent change in quantity of demand divided by the percent change in price (2012). Using the formula, we could compare the quantity and price change of Eliquis and Remicade to determine their price-inelastic demand. However, the data needed for the formula is not readily available. Therefore, we need to discuss each drug separately and attempt to compare them based on the information obtained.
The implication of price-inelastic demand of medication affects patients who have cost sharing responsibilities. Only few studies investigated the effects of cost sharing on price elasticity of demand for different classes of medication, but the findings suggest that patients fill less prescription medications when required higher cost sharing (Gatwood et al., 2014). Furthermore, the greater the price-inelastic of demand of the medication the more profit the pharmaceutic company will make (Feldstein, 2012).
There are a number of key determinants of price elasticity for any good or service, primarily the number of substitutes for the good, the “necessity” of the good, the amount of time that a consumer has to find an alternative, and the amount of a consumer’s income that the good takes up.