Abstracts by key term: Pharmaceutical industry
The introduction of individual contracts in the area of pharmaceuticals enabled the statutory health insurance companies to carry out further structural development, so that the significant savings potential, particularly in the generics market, could be leveraged. Since 2003, health insurance companies have had the option of concluding discount agreements with drug manufacturers. With the legal changes to the GKV-WSG, these contracts have been able to take effect since 2007, since since then pharmacists have also been obliged to sell discounted products unless the prescribing doctor has ruled out substitution.
24.01.2013
Since the legislator activated the option of drug discount contracts in the GKV Competition Strengthening Act (April 2007), corresponding discount contracts in the generic market segment have developed into a successful model. On the other hand, the objections repeatedly raised by interested parties, in particular pharmaceutical companies, with regard to patient compliance or alleged market share losses of pharmaceutical SMEs, stand up to neither public opinion nor empirical scrutiny. Discount agreements form an efficient and forward-looking competitive instrument between statutory health insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry.