GENAS v Generics Bulletine

Pricing & Reimbursement
Slovakia`s GENAS combats price cuts

The viability of the generics industry in the Slovak Republic will be cast into doubt if the country`s health minister persists with plants for price cuts of 5%-7% for all drugs, according to Christian Wieser, chairman of the Slovak Generics Association GENAS.

Wieser insisted that further price reductions after three years of cuts every quarter would mean generics firms would struggle to maintain the salesforces they needed to persuade doctors to prescribe their branded generics. The quarterly cuts, he pointed out, had reduced the price per defined daily dose (DDD) for risperidone from SKK180 (US$6.80) in November 2003 to less than SKK20 by October 2005. This was indicative of Slovakia having some of the lowest generics prices in Europe.

However, following a recent GENAS press conference that gathered widespread media coverage, health minister Ivan Valentovic has signalled that he may be ready to reconsider. Valentovic told a state broadcaster that he would discuss a compromise with those manufacturers that could prove they had cut their prices noticeably over the part year.

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