Trade group takes issue with Belgium's law for innovative pharma sector

pharma.be, the umbrella organization of 125 innovative pharmaceutical companies active in Belgium, regrets that the Constitutional Court has not taken an explicit decision to annul the discriminatory “clawback” measure in the pharmaceutical budget.

Under a new law passed in parliament in April 2020, only innovative pharmaceutical companies were required to reimburse drug budget overruns in 2020, while other manufacturers, including generic drug manufacturers, also contribute to the growth and were exempt from potential overruns.

"The way this measure was taken is very disturbing," said pharma.be chief executive Caroline Ven, adding: "As a responsible player, pharma.be has shown itself willing to work with the government to adapt the clawback system. This additional tax on innovation has a serious impact on the activities of the most innovative sector in our country, both on small biotech companies and on medium-sized and large biopharmaceutical sites, and therefore also for patients. pharma.be and its members regret this situation, which stands in the way of a stable and fair framework for the most innovative companies. The fact that pharma.be's request, submitted together with several of its members, was rejected for lack of interest because there was no drug budget overrun in 2020, resulting in a lack of predictability which is critical for our companies.”