Danish Drug Industry "Still In Shock"

The Danish drug industry is "still in shock" after the cost-containmentmeasures introduced by the government concerning drug prices in the spring, according to the annual report of the Danish pharmaceutical industry association MEFA.

The measures included a price freeze, parallel imports, generic substitution, the broadening of the fixed-price subsidy scheme and the establishment of a national drug information service (Marketletter June 30). These developments are "in stark contrast" to previous measures relating to use of pharmaceuticals in the health service, says MEFA, adding that it is "still wondering why the government chose to take such an inflexible stance" in pricing matters, when since 1994 negotiations in this area have led to price reductions of 10%.

The Danish market for human-use pharmaceuticals grew 4.8% to 8.8 billion krone ($1.21 billion) in 1996, with volume consumption up ahead of value because of the price reductions. 33% of the domestic market was covered by Danish producers and imports accounted for about 60%, with parallel imports representing 7% of total drug sales last year.