Greek Firms Seek 3-Month Delay On New Price Rule

Drug firms in Greece are seeking a three-month delay to the new drugprice adjustment regulations, which the government is due to sign shortly, in order to deplete their stocks.

The new law requires firms to stock, for three months, drugs produced or imported at the old cost prices. About 9,000 pharmacies are said to carry 40 million such products, while wholesalers and pharmacists' cooperatives are holding stocks adequate to cover demand for about 30 days.

The industry also notes the effects of the drachma's devaluation against major foreign exchanges, especially the US dollar, given that 80% of raw material imports are invoiced in US dollars. A typical example of the problems being created concerns a diabetic product whose imports were stopped by a private firm because they were unprofitable, and which is now imported by the National Drug Organization in order to meet market demand, but at a price three times higher than that of the original import.