Pharma: Study only sees disadvantages from US plans for German drugs

The Trump administration is demanding higher prices for medicines in Germany in order to reduce costs in the USA. A German study only sees losers - including in the USA.

Frankfurt. With a new study, the statutory health insurance companies (GKV) are defending themselves against calls for higher drug prices in Germany. An increase in local prices by 25 percent - analogous to a recently concluded agreement between the USA and Great Britain - would cost the coffers an additional 6.2 billion dollars (5.57 billion euros) annually. At the same time, spending in the US Medicaid program, the state health insurance for low-income people, would increase by around $300 million.

This emerges from a study by Harvard Medical School initiated by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, which was available to the Reuters news agency. The financial burden would therefore be distributed extremely unevenly: one dollar of additional costs in the USA would be offset by additional expenses of around 20 dollars in Germany. According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, the only beneficiary of these bilateral spending increases would be the pharmaceutical industry.

The background to the debate is US President Donald Trump's pricing policy, the so-called “Most Favorite Nation” (MFN) regulation. This aims to bring US drug prices in line with the lowest prices in other industrialized countries, including Germany.

Pharmaceutical companies fear that low European prices will serve as a reference for the US market and reduce their revenues there. The European pharmaceutical association EFPIA recently warned of a loss of investment if drug prices do not rise.

The analysis by Harvard researcher Thomas Hwang shows why US spending would increase: Germany is already one of the more expensive countries in the US reference basket. If prices rise in the Federal Republic, other countries with lower prices, such as Denmark or France, would quickly become the relevant reference value for the USA.

The fact that Germany is often used as a reference in the US models immediately after their market launch is not due to particularly low entry-level prices. Rather, new drugs are brought onto the market very early in this country compared to international standards. After 18 months, the importance of the German price for the USA decreased significantly.

Industry warns of significant additional costs

The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds sees its position confirmed by the data. “The result is not a shift of financing burdens from the USA to Germany, but rather higher drug spending on both sides,” said deputy CEO Stefanie Stoff-Ahnis to the Reuters news agency. Price regulation in Germany must remain independent.

The principle of early benefit assessment (AMNOG), according to which higher reimbursement amounts must be justified by a proven additional therapeutic benefit, should not be undermined by flat-rate surcharges. “We are well advised not to give in to pressure from the USA,” said Stoff-Ahnis.

The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds initiated the study, paid fees to the researcher and provided aggregated prescription data for the analysis. However, the research team carried out the study scientifically independently and had full control over the results, the study said.