New European pharmaceutical rules met with scepticism in Switzerland

Switzerland is keeping a close eye on a major overhaul to rules governing pharmaceutical products in Europe that have become a showdown between industry calls for more incentives for innovation and member state demands to make medicine more affordable. The European Commission released their long-awaited draft revision of the legislation on pharmaceutical products on April 26. The rules are an attempt to rein in drug prices, improve access to innovative medicine such as gene therapies across the bloc, and avoid drug shortages that have worsened over the last few years. The proposed changes are wide-ranging, covering everything from reducing the approval time for new drugs and improving transparency of public funding in drug development to speeding up the delivery of drugs during emergencies. The reaction in the European Union (EU) has been a mixed bag. The pharma industry argues the new rules risk hindering innovation in the EU while some public health campaigners say that the...