Domestic drug manufacturers see themselves under increasing pressure: It is particularly challenging to economically produce patent-free drugs in Austria, the interest group Pharmig drew attention to the situation of drug manufacturers at a press conference on Friday. After all, Austria is a cheap country for patent-free products compared to the EU, although prices are squeezed by law.
“The gap between the consumer price index and the drug price index has been widening for years. This means that the truth is that medicines are getting cheaper and cheaper, while everything else is getting more expensive every year. In the past, this has forced a number of companies to withdraw from the supply of individual products. Because with the low prices prevailing in Austria for non-patented medicines, for some it becomes a matter of survival whether they keep a product on the market or completely stop its production and sale,” said Bernhard Wittmann, Sigmapharm Managing Director and Pharmig Vice President.
Drug prices fell steadily
A comparison of the consumer price index with the drug price index since 1996 shows the following difference: while other prices have increased on average from 10 euros to 15.68 euros since 1996, the drug price fell from 10 euros to 6.17 euros in the same period – a price decrease which can no longer be offset by cost savings. Manufacturers are under pressure, especially given high energy costs and high inflation.
“In the field of patents, we have to adjust drug prices to inflation. You do not need to have studied business administration to be able to calculate that a company cannot survive long despite cost optimization if the production costs and the demands placed on them rise so sharply and continuously, but the prices for your own product only increase, or all the way to going down,” says Ilse Bartenstein, Managing Director of GL Pharma and chairman of the WKÖ Pharma division. “People want Austrian medicines at Indian prices,” she explains the terms and conditions.
“Adequate prices instead of high pressure”
That is why Katherina Schmidt, director of Montavit, also argues. “We can only guarantee the supply of medicines if it is also economically possible. That means: adequate prices instead of constant high price pressure, as has been exerted until now by legal price regulation.”
In the spring of this year, further rules were adopted in parliament to keep the low drug prices at this price level, criticizes Pharmig.
Delivery problems also cause resentment
But there are other problems, such as the supply of preliminary products: “What are you wearing when the medicine is ready, but the folding boxes will not come for another six months?” Schmidt wonders. Wittmann can also report something similar: “Suppliers no longer make offers. I can order if I want. I hear the price upon delivery,” the director of Sigmapharm notes.
In Austria there are 22 research locations, 40 production locations and 56 main locations. About half of the pharmaceutical companies in Austria have less than 10 employees. Just over 40 percent employ up to 250 people and only a tenth are large companies. Nevertheless, the pharmaceutical industry in Austria employs a total of about 18,000 people and generates an added value of 9.6 billion euros.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
