Share prices of Australian pharmaceutical distributorsF H Faulding, Sigma Co and Australian Pharmaceutical Industry fell after details of the country's federal pre-election budget were published on May 22.
The government is reportedly negotiating to reduce the amount it pays drug distributors under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and Sigma stock fell 14.5% to A$2.00 ($1.05), Faulding dropped as much as 7.4% to A$10.02 and API declined one cent to A$2.45 on the news.
The budget included the expectation of a larger-than-forecast surplus for 2001-2, to total A$1.5 billion, and the government said that it would be spending A$2.6 billion in the period on health care, welfare and care of the elderly. As part of this commitment, it says it will give all Allied veterans of World War II aged 70 or over full access to the PBS.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
7 day trial access
Become a subscriber
Or £77 per month
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze