Giulio Tremonti, Minister of Economy
With the yes of the Chamber, the maneuver is law and the consequences for the pharmaceutical world are not few. From distribution margins to online recipes, here are the main measures.
In the end, the maneuver became law, after the Senate, in fact, even the Chamber gave the go-ahead and the repercussions for the pharmaceutical world are not few. Here they are in summary. One of the most debated aspects is that of distribution margins. After heated discussions, it is expected that the cuts will fall not only on pharmacists and wholesalers but also on the drug industries. Article 11 establishes this according to which, starting from the entry into force of the maneuver, the minimum quota due for class A drugs drops from 6.65% to 3% for wholesalers, while it increases from 26.7% to 30.35% for pharmacists, as already provided for in the text approved by the Council of Ministers. What will change will be the distribution of the share withheld by the National Health Service, equal to 3.65%, which will be borne by pharmacists for 1.82% on the retail price net of VAT and 1.83% by drug industries. The same article 11 establishes a revision of the criteria for the remuneration of pharmaceutical expenditure to be discussed in a table involving all the players in the pharmaceutical supply chain. With the aim of putting available to the Regions with programming and control tools, AIFA will have to prepare tables for comparing the territorial pharmaceutical expenditure of the various Regions divided into equivalent therapeutic categories, in order to identify the greatest savings that can be achieved thanks to the greater use of generic or lower priced drugs.Also the Italian Medicines Agency will have to identify a list of medicines that will be moved from hospital to territorial distribution, for a total expenditure of 600 million euros. The news on the front of generic drugs is important, starting with the average European price. Starting from 2011, the maximum reimbursement prices will be established by AIFA on the basis of a survey of European average prices and to an extent suitable for achieving cost savings of no less than 600 million euros per year, which will remain available in the regions. Furthermore, a reduction of 12.5% on the public price of generic-equivalents is foreseen until 31 December 2010. One last aspect that concerns pharmacists very closely is that of online prescriptions. The text envisages an acceleration of the process of computerization of prescriptions to allow savings, specifying that the telematic sending of prescriptions will in all respects replace the medical prescription in paper format.
Marco Malagutti – Pharmacist33 – 30 July 2010 – Year 6, Number 141
