The Drug-Pricing Problem No One Wants To Talk About

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The misuse of patents by some of the world's biggest pharma companies to stifle competition is rarely discussed in global drug-pricing debates. Yet rectifying this problem could help to lower drug prices for patients everywhere, explains healthcare reporter Jessica Davis Plüss. This content was published on May 4, 2026 - 09:00 8 minutes

I report on the Swiss pharmaceutical industry and healthcare topics such as access to medicine, biomedical innovation, and the impact of diseases like cancer. I grew up just outside San Francisco and studied international affairs with a focus on development economics and healthcare policy. Prior to joining SWI swissinfo in 2018, I was a freelance journalist and a researcher on business and human rights.

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For the past year countries have been at odds over how to lower drug prices. As United States President Donald Trump sees it, US prices should drop and other countries' prices should rise to make up for lost pharma revenue. For Swiss authorities, raising prices simply because the US wants them to is out of the questionExternal link at a time when healthcare costs are soaring.

But there are other ways to bring down drug prices that don't make as many headlines. One is tackling the misuse of patents by some pharma companies to prevent cheaper copycat drugs from coming on the market.

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