Italy Tells EU Of Plans For Drug Prices

Italian Health Minister Rosy Bindi has told the European Commission howshe plans to close the gap between Italian and average European Union drug prices. A Treasury colleague has also written to the Commission. The moves are seen as giving high official character to the policy, as the political crisis embroiling the Prodi administration eases.

Ms Bindi's letter is understood to discuss negotiations with the drug industry association, Farmindustria, and to indicate her aim of trying to find a point of balance between the need to contain public spending and "the legitimate aspirations of (drug) producers" to have access to their national market "in conditions that are not too disadvantageous" in comparison with those in other countries.

Earlier, the Commission asked the Italian authorities for information on drug price policy , including the way average EU drug prices were to be calculated. Ms Bindi's answer is that a new law will be introduced to fix the criteria for calculating average European drug prices in relation to the Italian lists. The law will, she says, recognize the right of drug companies to take account of official tax and exchange-rate factors in relation to costs.