By James Giannecchini on October 9, 2012
The decrees and the continuous adjustments to pharmaceuticals, Monti's special laws which should save Italy but which in the meantime are changing the Italian pharmaceutical sector forever, are not liked by many, but among the dissidents there is now also a "heavyweight". "In Italy the rules change too quickly, there is a climate of temporariness and uncertainty which makes it impossible to plan investments even in the medium term". It seems like an analysis that has nothing special these days, but the element that distinguishes it is that it was delivered by "Big Pharma". Specifically, these were the words of Pierluigi Antonelli, managing director of Merck in Italy: we are talking about something that generates 800 million in annual revenues, with 1,700 employees and two plants in Italy. These are heavy sentences when they are pronounced by giants of this type, and Antonelli did not stop at that sentence: “Forty maneuvers in ten years. Three of these in the last six months. And all aimed at lowering the pharmaceutical expense. In this constantly changing framework of rules, it becomes impossible to do industry in this country”. The veiled threat is one that makes the blood run cold. According to Antonelli, this climate of eternal revolution, these continuous changes, by now daily upheavals of the rules of the game, make work difficult for US-branded industries: "It is becoming increasingly difficult to dialogue with parent companies in America, because Italy, today, is no longer an attractive country for making new investments". Antonelli does not express any either-or, but it is clear that there is an invitation to change things in the air, otherwise US industries will have to move from our country. For those who are not informed, it will be useful to remember that the American drug industry in Italy is worth 5 billion euros in turnover, 13,000 workers, for an export of 1.3 billion euros. If there were still doubts, consider that the total pharmaceutical production in our country stands at 25 billion euros: a fifth is stars and stripes. The comparison with the "heavyweight" of noble art is apt. Antonelli continues: “In the last six months we have already undergone two maneuvers that have heavily impacted our sector: 1.8 billion euros only with Law 135/2012, c
