Posted by Michael Wonder on 14 Nov 2016
Bayer warns planned German price curbs may restrict drug access
14 November 2016 - Germany looking at revenue ceiling for drugs in first year.
Bayer, Roche and other drugmakers are warning that a German government proposal to tighten price controls on prescription drugs could end up restricting access to new medicines in Europe’s biggest health-care market.
The proposal “lacks a fair balance between measures to foster innovation and cost-containment,” said Dieter Weinand, pharmaceuticals chief at Bayer. “Incremental innovation is not recognised and rewarded adequately.”
At the heart of the plan is a 250-million euro (US$272 million) revenue ceiling for medicines in their first year on the market. Once companies reach that threshold, controls would kick in to restrict the price. Currently, drugmakers can charge whatever they want in the first year a medicine is on sale regardless of how much they earn.
