Swiss pharmaceuticals 'too expensive'

"Pharmaceuticals are far too expensive in Switzerland compared to other European countries," according to a controversial report by health insurers. Both original and generic drugs cost over 20% more in the small central European country than they do in neighboring states, says the insurers' umbrella organization Santesuisse.

But the pharmaceutical industry claims the figures, presented in the lobby group's second comparative study of drug prices, are both "out of date and misleading," according to the Swiss industry association, Interpharma.

The report, which compared the prices of the 100 most popular original pharmaceuticals across seven European countries in 2005, found that Germany was 16% less expensive and fellow Alpine republic Austria was 36% cheaper. The organization suggests that, by pegging the Swiss price to the European average, there could be savings of at least 532.0 million Swiss francs ($430.9 million) per annum.