Big price differences – medicines still expensive – but prices have fallen – News

• The price difference for medicines in Switzerland compared to other European countries is 11 percent this year.
• They are therefore still more expensive in Switzerland than in neighboring countries.
• Generics sometimes cost almost twice as much as in other European countries. However, the price difference has become smaller.

Compared to the previous year, the price difference corresponds to a decrease of four percentage points, as the health insurance association Santésuisse and the interest group of researching pharmaceutical companies Interpharma announced. The reasons for this are the continuous price reductions by the Federal Office of Public Health and lower Swiss prices for so-called biological original products. These are medicines that are produced biotechnologically or with the help of genetically modified organisms.

On average, the prices of patented medicines abroad are still 5.4 percent lower than in Switzerland. Last year, however, the difference was larger at 8.8 percent.

Original products with an expired patent cost 10.8 percent less abroad than in Switzerland, which means that the price difference has fallen by 3.6 percentage points compared to 2022.

Generics and biosimilars significantly more expensive

Generics are still almost twice as expensive in Switzerland as they are abroad. The price gap was 46 percent this year, a slight decrease of two percentage points compared to last year. So-called biosimilars, generics of biologically manufactured medicines, also cost 27.5 percent less abroad. Last year, however, the difference was larger at 34 percent.

Legend:

Compared to other countries, generic drugs are still more expensive in Switzerland.

KEYSTONE/Archiv/Yoshiko Kusano

Santésuisse sees great savings potential in these imitation products in particular. The association called for the prices of generics and biosimilars to be constantly reviewed and reduced in order to bring them up to the European level. This could save around one billion Swiss francs.

The price comparison was carried out for the fourteenth time. The ex-factory prices for patent-protected medicines, medicines with an expiring patent as well as for generics and biosimilars were compared with the prices from abroad. Swiss prices were compared to those in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden in the period from January to April 2023.