FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s prospective three-party government coalition plans to cut drug prices retroactively for newly-launched prescription drugs to keep healthcare expenses under control, the coalition agreement on major legislation projects showed on Wednesday.
Pharmaceutical companies have been free to set prescription drug prices in Germany only for the first 12 months following approval by the European Commission to allow for an elaborate benefit assessment and price setting procedure that the country introduced in 2011.
Instead of taking effect after the price negotiations, which typically result in a discount, the new price will be enforced with a retroactive reimbursement from the seventh month after market launch, if the coalition plan is passed into law during the four-year parliamentary session.
“The negotiated reimbursement price is to take effect from the seventh month after market entry,” said the document on the coalition deal seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The document also said that drugmakers would continue to be banned from unilaterally increasing drug prices over time, keeping current rules in place.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Emma Thomasson)
