Big Pharma asks Europe to increase medicine prices: « The duties accelerate the exodus towards the United States »
Pharmaceutical companies have announced investments for 150 billion in the United States after the duties, the CEO of Sanoph and Novartis write. According to Astrazeneca, « the EU has increased the expenses for the defense, now it must bear its health sovereignty »
Big Pharma raises the pressure on Europe and asks to increase the prices of medicines. In the last few days The managers of some of the main European pharmaceutical companies have asked the EU urgent actions to support the competitiveness of the European industry and avoid an exodus of companies to the United States.
Investments in the United States
From the announcement of Donald Trump’s duties, the pharmaceutical industry has announced investments in the United States for over $ 150 billion, they highlighted the CEO of Novartis and Sanofi, Vas Narasimhan and Paul Hudson, in a letter to Financial Times. Although the rates on drugs imported to the USA are only a threat for now, Novartis has already allocated 23 billion to increase the production capacity on American soil, while Roche has presented a 50 billion plan. For now, Sanopi has not made decisions about it, also because the French president Emmanuel Macron has urged the French companies not to invest in the USA as if the commercial dispute will not be resolved with the EU countries.
The disparity of prices
« In Europe there were no similar ads, » noticed the two managers of Novartis and Sanofi, identifying the reason for the disparity of treatment in prices. The United States pays the drugs on average triple compared to other advanced economies, according to the American government estimates, which, however, is considering cutting prices to bring them to the level of Europe and other rich countries.
The requests of Novartis and Sanofi
In the judgment of the CEO of Novartis and Sanofi, however, the opposite should happen: that is, it should be Europe to conform to US prices and not vice versa. « The checks on prices and measures of European austerity reduce the attraction of its markets, » they wrote, fearing risks for innovation and medical progress. « Recent data show that over 30% of the drugs approved in the United States was not available in Europe after two years »concluded. « Over time, it is inevitable that clinical studies and research and development will move further to the United States and China ».
The Astrazeneca alarm
In a close tour, the CEO of Astrazeneca, Pascal Soriot, also joined the choir. « The world order is changing right now, » said Sorio. « Europe has committed itself to investing more in the defense and now she has to protect its health sovereignty »he added, noting that « Europe spends a share of GDP substantially lower than that of the United States in innovative drugs and, consequently, is losing land in attracting investments in research and development and production ».
The plan
In short, the pressure on the European institutions is high. However, the EU Commission does not seem willing to modify the pharmaceutical industry reform plan Currently under discussion between the Parliament and the EU Council. The aim of the plan is to increase the production capacity of drugs in Europe, reduce bureaucratic complexity and improve access to drugs for patients, among other things, also making them economically more accessible.
