Spanish drug law 'will bring losses'

The Spanish drug industry association Farmindustria has said that new legislation on drugs - the law on the "rational use of drugs and health care products" - will allow non-prescription drugs to be sold on the Internet. There will also be more aggressive reference prices as well as price cuts of up to 20% on drugs which have been on the market for more than 10 years and for which a generic equivalent is available at a lower price within the European Union.

Humberto Arnes, president of Farmindustria, said there was no economic justification for the measures and the proposed tax on drug company sales was "discriminatory." He added that the tax would lead to losses of some 125.0 million euros ($160.0 million) while total losses generated by the new law are estimated at 750.0 million euros.

The legislation in its final form has been approved by the Cortes, Spain's Parliament.