Switzerland’s FOPH Lowers Prices of 300 Meds, Set to Save 60M Francs

BERN, Switzerland – Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has announced that it has successfully reduced the prices of more than 300 pharmaceuticals by an average of 11% in 2020, as part of the triennial review.

Because of these price cuts, the group now expects savings of at least 60 million francs for the budget.

The process has been an annual tradition since 2017, under which the FOPH checks a third of the drugs on the list of specialties to determine whether they are effective, appropriate and economical. So far, the FOPH has decreed price reductions for more than 200 (55%) of the almost 400 original preparations that have already been checked.

A simultaneous review of generics, co-marketing drugs and biosimilars led to a price reduction for approximately 50% of reviewed drugs, which will be implemented on December 1, 2020.

Switzerland is also in discussions about the use of International Reference Pricing (IRP) to keep down the costs of generics, as Swiss Health Minister, Alain Berset, has recently noted a need to change the country’s overwhelmingly negative attitude towards the idea.

As it stands, generics are substantially more expensive in Switzerland than they are abroad, and so Berset wants the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) to determine the maximum amount of health insurance companies to pay for a generic product based on price comparison with neighboring countries, noting that “if the health insurers only pay for the cheapest drug, everyone will save.

The National Council’s Health Commission has opposed the proposed austerity package, explaining that it would rather take measures to increase the market share for generics, such as allowing parallel imports.

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