German Drug Majors Rest Hopes On Innovation

The launch of fresh efforts by the German government, in associationwith the medical profession, to cut drug and medical treatment costs and the setting of an upper limit to reimbursement has unsettled the drug industry.

However, a new survey of the R&D-based larger companies grouped in the VFA trade association has shown that almost 60% believe they can achieve sales growth through innovation.

The VFA's deputy chairman, Horst Freisler, said that German pharmacy market sales in the first 10 months of 1996 rose 7.8% over the same period of 1995, to 21 billion Deutschemarks ($13.59 billion), calculated in terms of manufacturers' selling prices.