US pressure on medicine prices could cost Switzerland hundreds of millions of francs a year, according to a study. Swiss drug prices are already among the highest in…
US pressure on medicine prices could cost Switzerland hundreds of millions of francs a year, according to a study. Swiss drug prices are already among the highest in the world, but prices in the US are significantly steeper. The US government wants to change that and is pressuring pharmaceutical companies to offer new medicines at lower prices in the American market. For Swiss pharmaceutical giants such as Roche and Novartis, lower prices in their biggest market would mean lower revenues.
Pharma firms are responding by pushing other countries to accept higher prices. A new study by researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich concludes that if Switzerland and other countries give in to this pressure, Swiss households could face additional annual costs amounting to hundreds of millions of francs. Co-author Kerstin Vokinger says Switzerland must carefully consider how it deals with US pressure. The US wants to become a “most-favoured nation” ...
This is a source-linked briefing. Read the original report from Swi Swissinfo .