Pharma calls for stronger Swiss patent law

The Swiss drug industry organisation Interpharma has underlined the importance of stronger patent protection and the ending of price controls in a new study undertaken for the industry by Plaut Economics and BAK Basel Economic. The study suggests that the incentive to develop innovative drug products is especially effective when the return is high and this is directly related to strong patent protection which facilitates the rapid introduction of new drugs onto the leading markets.

The report also says that the explosion of costs in health care has meant that the aim of controlling price increases has acquired growing importance to payers. The Swiss Federal Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin has now introduced new measures to change the prices of 1,000 drugs on the domestic market.

The Interpharma study, however, argues that such price regulation inhibits innovation by discouraging long-term investments and means that innovative drugs will either not reach the Swiss market or be slow to do so.