Colombia: After Novartis staredown, Government to set prices unilaterally

Colombian health minister Alejandro Gaviria has announced, during the Andi Pharmaceutical Forum held in the city of Cartagena, that the negotiations with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis over their pricing of cancer drug Glivec had come to an unsuccessful end. With negotiations breaking down, the chance for a bilateral agreement has been scuppered, and the government will now unilaterally set the market price for the drug.

The next step will involve declaring the the active molecule Imatinib to be a matter of public interest, which would allow for the government to request an official administrative procedure to set a fair price for the drug.

The initiative by the Health ministry has been widely backed by Colombia’s various forces, as the government tries to pry away the monopoly over the active ingredient from Novartis. The aim is to allow for local laboratories to produce competing products, which would lower prices and give patients better access to the drug.

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