It is increasingly difficult for pharmaceutical companies to do business in Greece. And so a company has decided to withdraw an innovative oncological drug from the market.
Affaritaliani – Tuesday, 31 October 2017
A multinational pharmaceutical company has decided to withdraw an innovative cancer drug from the Greek market, claiming that its price has decreased by 50% due to government regulatory interventions in the pharmaceutical sector.
Drug multinationals fleeing Greece
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According to a letter seen by Euractiv, which reports the news, the pharmaceutical company notified the Greek health ministry on October 30 of its decision to withdraw a new cancer drug from the list of prescribed medicines, meaning that the drug will no longer be refunded.
Withdrawal of some innovative medicines
The measures that the Greek government has taken in relation to the international bailout have put a lot of pressure on the pharmaceutical companies which have threatened to withdraw some products from the market or to stop introducing new drugs.
Too many taxes on innovative drugs to stay on the market
The reason, say the pharmaceutical multinationals, is a measure that Athens recently introduced and which provides for a levy of up to 25% on the turnover generated by new patent-protected drugs. This sort of tax has been retroactively applied to all innovative medicines since January 2017. In addition to this, the Greek government decided in May 2017 to impose a 25% registration tax on new medicines.
Related news: Pharmaceutical company withdraws oncology drug from Greek market
