Pharmaceuticals reject clawback blueprint

The Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) has reacted to a Health Ministry proposal to change the calculation of the so-called “clawback.”

The clawback is the amount that pharmaceutical companies have to return to the state when public spending on drugs exceeds the amount budgeted for.

In a letter to Minister Andreas Xanthos, SFEE argued that the new calculation formula for the clawback process will effectively punish companies for doing well. Ninety percent of the clawback that companies have to pay depends on market share and 10 percent on the market penetration level of each drug. Now the ministry intends to change this to 75 percent on market share and 25 percent on penetration.

According to SFEE, any companies that manage to grow next year will be punished by being forced to pay a shared “fine” of 150-200 million euros, depending on the level of the clawback.

SFEE also expressed concern about certain aspects of the pharmaceutical policy and disappointment over the state’s inability to adjust public expenditure on pharmaceuticals to a more rational level. The association views the effort to correct prices positively, but insists they should be determined by the average of the three lowest rates among eurozone countries.