BERN: The cabinet has presented adjustments to the system of price setting for brand name drugs in Switzerland amid opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.
Interior Minister Alain Berset announced that the Federal Health Office would extend the list of countries used as a reference and publish the name of medication suspected of being overpriced.
Berset said the package of measures was aimed at stabilising price hikes, increasing transparency and boosting quality while ensuring fair conditions for the pharmaceutical industry. “I’m confident that the measures will result in a clear drop in prices in 2016,” he told a media conference on Wednesday. The weakness of the euro compared with the Swiss franc was not likely to have an impact this year, he added. Medical drugs make up about 20% of health costs in Switzerland.
