Greece set for further price cuts
pharmafile | August 23, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Greece
The Greek government is set to impose price cuts of more than 10% and will further cut reimbursement for a series of drugs in an effort to reduce its budget deficit.
The new edict will see the retail prices on a number of drugs for serious illnesses cut by 10.41 per cent.
There are no reports as yet of what specific drugs will be hit, but analysts at IHS Global Insight say it will include biotech drugs and some oncology treatments, as these are the most expensive treatments.
IHS says the new cuts will not come from the drugs originally planned for a 27% temporary price reduction implemented in May.
The Greek National Organisation for Medicines (EOF) is simultaneously drawing up a second ‘negative’ list of drugs for which the government will no longer pay reimbursement fees. This list will see an extra 842 products added to the previous register of OTC medicines announced in May.
The Greek newspaper Naftemporiki has reported that the list is being prepared to include products that were not included in the first list, due to lack of time, and will include a number of OTC products including anti-infectives, antacids, laxatives, anti-obesity drugs, and vitamins.
It will also include a number of prescription medicines such as cardiovascular drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, psycho-stimulants for the treatment of ADHD, and smoking cessation drugs.
Naftemporiki has said that this will further increase the number of drugs not being reimbursed by insurance funds, even when these drugs are prescribed by a doctor.
Delays in new pricing scheme
Meanwhile, Greek pharma news provider Farmakeutikosksmos.gr has reported that there are delays in the implementation of its new drug pricing system. This system is set to re-price around 12,000 drugs based on the average of the three lowest priced countries in the EU and was first announced in May.
Commenting on the scheme, IHS said: “It remains to be seen whether the Greek ministers involved will succeed in accelerating the [drug re-pricing] process in order to achieve the savings they are aiming for of around €1 billion ($1.29 billion).”
Greece is being forced to drastically cut its healthcare spending to clear its budget deficit. It has opted for cutting drug prices as this can prove less politically sensitive than cutting healthcare jobs.
Greece has the one of the biggest budget deficits in the EU, representing 13.6% of its GDP in 2009. It is aiming to cut this to 8.1% this year, and within the EU limit of 3% by 2014.
Ben Adams
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