Dive Brief:
- According to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries (EFPIA), parallel trade fostered by a Greek exit from the Eurozone could lead to EU-wide price reductions for drugs (and therefore less revenue for pharma) and disrupt access to medications.
- Drug makers are owed roughly $1.2 billion by Greek hospitals and other payers.
- On the flip side, the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies, a trade group for parallel traders, asserts that the pharma industry is exploiting the Greek financial crisis and are using concerns over drug shortags as a way to bolster profits, the WSJ's Ed Silverman reports.
Dive Insight:
Until now, there has been one prevailing perspective, and that is that pharma companies are doing Greece a favor by continuing to provide drugs, despite the $1.2 billion in outstanding debts to the industry.
In contrast, however, the European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies complains that the threat of future drug shortages may actually be traced back to the pharma industry limiting supplies in order to discourage parallel trade and liquidity problems in the supply chain. In addition, this organization also asserts that if prescription drug prices in Greece did fall, exports would not rise, because pharma companies would maintain supply quotas to wholesalers.
These are two valid perspectives, yet the reality is that Greece still can't pay its bills—and the industry has no intention of cutting off supply.