In August Pfizer plans to lower the price of some of its drugs, including hypertension drug Norvasc, and other medicines that lost patent protection in Switzerland. It will charge the same price for the drugs as generics.
The price cuts follow an agreement between the pharmaceutical industry and the Swiss government in the fall of 2005, which aimed at limiting the rise in healthcare spending.
Under the pact, the highest possible price that can be charged for a generic drug is 70% of the price of the original product.
A few months later, effective Jan. 1, 2006, the government also introduced a new regulation to encourage the use of generic medicines. Under the new rules patients pay a lower percentage share of the medicine's price - 10% instead of 20% - if they are taking a generic version of a branded drug.
Interpharma, a Swiss pharmaceutical industry trade group, estimates that by the end of July, the prices of around 1,400 medicines will have dropped by 30% on average.
Source: Dow Jones
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