"The maneuver approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers calls for sacrifices and rigor from the whole country and, once again, from the pharmaceutical industry already hit in recent years by countless cuts and price reductions". This was stated in a note by the president of Farmindustria Sergio Dompé. The number one of the association of drug companies active in Italy underlines that, if "the drug companies, absolutely aware of the extreme difficulty of the economic situation, are ready to contribute responsibly to the necessary rebalancing of public finance", among the measures "there are 'however, it is one that risks creating many more disadvantages than advantages for the country: the one that limits reimbursement to the four lowest-priced equivalent medicines, through auctions", he specifies.
"A measure which – adds Dompé – would lead to particularly serious consequences under various profiles. For example, by transferring the value of the Italian industrial system – with exports equal to 54% of production – towards emerging economies that are able to sell low-cost products due to the absence of rigorous rules in delicate areas such as the protection of workers' rights, quality standards and controls. The damage in this respect would be heavy for companies and very serious for employment in the sector", warns the president of Farmindustria.
"In fact, such a system would not allow companies operating in Italy to 'resist' arms equal to foreign competition, preventing them from confirming and consolidating investments in research and production", he observes. "The introduction of a spending control system of this type – he continues – would jeopardize the very quality of the drug due to an artificial run-down, which would not take into account the value of knowledge of the drug asset over time".
In conclusion, "Farmindustria is willing to formulate alternative hypotheses, which guarantee the same savings without the negative consequences of a measure that risks hurting not only the industry but also the country.
PharmaKronos – May 27, 2010 
