Greece Cuts Drug Prices, Industry Margins

Greece's Council of Ministers has announced that the profit margins ofdrug producers, importers and pharmacists are to be "reassessed," in order to reduce the average cost of drugs by about 16% and cut the 584 billion drachmas ($2.12 billion) annual drugs bill by about 100 billion drachmas.

In addition, a national formulary is being drawn up for prescribing to insured patients, expected to include around 2,800 active ingredients. To obtain a listing, a product must be available in at least three of the following countries - France, Germany, UK, USA, Sweden and Switzerland. Also, all products with prices under 400 drachmas will be included.

The formulary is expected to take effect 15 days after a "recosting" of all drugs now on the market is completed, hopefully by mid-July. Retail prices of imported and locally-made drugs are to be linked to the cheapest in western European countries. Prices of branded generics are to be set at 80% of the original's price, down from 85%. The economic journal Express says 7,179 prescription drugs are now on the Greek market, of which 1,932 are imported, 4,915 are manufactured locally and 332 are packed in Greece.