Czech pharma group MAFS calls for EU action on drug categorization

Continuing the fight between drugmakers and health officials, MAFS, the International Association of Pharmaceuticals Companies in the Czech Republic, is amending its complaint to the European Commission over the country's "non-transparent" medicines categorization process, a move that could result in penalties for the Czech Republic (Marketletters passim). It claims that the medicine categorization process breaches European Union legislation, and that a law just passed by Parliament does nothing to improve the situation.

"We supplemented the complaint with new facts," said MAFS executive director Jana Mikotova, adding that the association's amended complaint basically states that the Czech government has done nothing to rectify the process, reports Pavla Kozakova, writing in the Czech Business Weekly.

The categorization commission, an advisory body to Health Minister David Rath, launched a new round of classifications last month, and is still deliberating on which medicines can be covered by insurance companies and how the costs will be covered