Cyprus pharma sector says drugs pricing system ensures availability of most medicines

The Cyprus Association of Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies (KEFEA) says it believes that the change in the pricing policy for medicines, as has been approved by Cabinet, ensures, under the circumstances, the continued availability of the majority of medicines on the Cypriot market.

KEFEA considers that the updating of prices every two years is a very reasonable endeavor in the case of Cyprus. A review on a regular basis ensures that local prices reflect the price movements in the reference countries. This provision is included in existing Cypriot legislation, but it has not been effectively implemented in recent years. KEFEA also reiterates its firm position that the current “basket” of reference countries, which are taken into consideration for the setting of prices in Cyprus, is representative of the socio-economic situation of Cyprus. However, the price of medicines in the private sector is determined by four factors: factory price, the profit margins of the distributors, the profit margins of pharmacists, and value added tax (VAT).

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