Tuesday, 02 January 2024 12:17 GMT

Big Pharma May Raise Drug Costs in Europe


(MENAFN) Major American pharmaceutical corporations are exploring strategies to sidestep President Donald Trump's initiative aimed at reducing medication expenses for US citizens—a maneuver that could jeopardize European medical access, media disclosed Sunday.

Beginning last year, Trump has compelled leading drug manufacturers to align critical US medication pricing with international standards, highlighting disparate cost structures. By January, sixteen multinational pharmaceutical firms accepted price reductions in return for three-year tariff exemptions.

Yet Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla indicated the pharmaceutical titan finds withdrawing European distribution more appealing than diminishing American prices.

"Do you reduce the US price to France's level or stop supplying France? You stop supplying France," he stated to media personnel at the JPMorgan healthcare conference last week. "So they will be left without new medicine… the system will force us not to be able to accept the lower prices."

Additional conference attendees privately acknowledged contemplating postponing or terminating European drug launches, according to media.

Daniel O'Day, chief executive of American biopharmaceutical corporation Gilead Sciences, stated his company's arrangement with Trump "really gives us an opportunity to reset" pharmaceutical pricing worldwide, the publication reported.

European nations generally maintain centralized, state-administered healthcare frameworks that conduct nationwide drug price negotiations, providing substantial leverage to obtain reduced costs. Conversely, America's fragmented structure combines private insurance carriers and government programs operating without collective bargaining, historically producing elevated prices.

American pressure will "have a significant impact" on Europeans' medication availability, surpassing tariff consequences substantially, Euractiv reported Monday, referencing pharmaceutical advocate Alexander Natz, whose organization represents approximately 2,600 small and medium-sized enterprises.

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