German drug pricing row escalates as Health Minister targets vaccine makers

Germany is a “pharma paradise,” says the domestic newspaper Koelnische Rundschau, commenting on the latest Arzneiverordnungs Report, an annual study of new developments and pricing in the German drug market based on 740 million prescriptions, noting that the German health system is being fleeced by the pharmaceutical industry.

It says that Germany’s health insurers spent a record 32.4 billion euros ($41.23 billion) on drugs last year, a 4.8% increase on the previous year. Prices are among the most expensive in Europe, and are 30%-500% above Swedish levels, notes the report, which is published by pharmacologist Ulrich Schwabe and Dieter Paffrath, the head of AOK Schleswig-Holstein, a health insurer.

The newspaper adds that the 50 biggest-selling patent-protected drugs are, on average, 48% pricier than in Sweden; their turnover has now jumped from 1.6 billion euros to 13.2 billion euros since 1993. The top 50 generics are 98% dearer. With prices at Swedish levels and increased use of knock-off drugs, health insurers could save 9.4 billion euros, according to Ulrich Schwabe, one of the publishers.