Discount double whammy could cost €2.6bn: industry needs voice on German price body
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Increased mandatory discounts have this year hit pharmaceutical companies twice as hard as expected. In the first half of 2011 alone, the German government saved what it intended to save through the discounts over a 12 month period, says Dr Alexander Natz, Brussels representative for the BPI, the German association of mid-sized pharmaceutical companies. Dr Natz also believes that the German reimbursement body, the G-BA, needs a voice from the pharmaceutical industry if it is to reflect thinking across the spectrum of healthcare.