Abbreviations used in quoted UPC comments.

Escalating costs have made the accessibility of drugs one of the biggest challenges faced by the Malaysian government. The government agreed to regulate drug prices by means of external reference pricing, but its proposed policy had a setback owing to much opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. The policy did gain support from the public and from non-governmental organisations because it ensured easy access to affordable medicines. Comments from public consultations with key stakeholders were used to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of the external reference pricing policy. A total of 140 comments were analysed for this study. Stakeholders’ views were classified as being from the Socioeconomic, industrial, and government sectors. To summarise, the government must carefully manage and consider stakeholders’ views to ensure a sound policy. Using Mendelow’s stakeholder mapping, this study mapped out stakeholders’ views in a systematic approach. The classification of different stakeholders’ views and recommendations led to suggestions for reviewing current practices in pharmaceutical pricing regulations in the Malaysian healthcare system. The analyses can be extended to other countries that face similar concerns.药品成本持续攀升，使得药品可及性成为马来西亚政府面临的核心挑战之一。马来西亚政府曾计划通过外部参考定价（external reference pricing）手段调控药品价格，但该拟议政策因制药行业的强烈反对遭遇挫折。尽管该政策可保障民众便捷获取平价药品，却获得了公众与非政府组织的广泛支持。本研究通过对关键利益相关方开展公众咨询所获的意见，探究各方对外部参考定价政策的认知与态度，共对140份有效反馈展开分析。研究将收集到的利益相关方意见划分为社会经济、制药工业及政府三大类视角。综上，马来西亚政府需审慎考量并统筹协调各方利益相关方的诉求，以制定科学完善的政策。本研究采用门德洛（Mendelow）利益相关方映射法，以系统化方式梳理了各方意见；通过对不同利益相关方的观点与建议进行分类归纳，提出了优化马来西亚医疗体系中药品定价监管现行机制的相关建议。该分析框架可推广至面临同类药品可及性与定价监管挑战的其他国家。