Wholesale margins on prescription drugs fell to 3.99% in 2021 (down from 4.09% in the previous year), according to data from the association of pharmaceutical wholesalers (Bundesverband des pharmazeutischen Groβhandels, Phagro).
The association notes that sales of prescription drugs are declining overall, but the proportion of high-priced medicines continues to rise, now accounting for more than a third of wholesale sales of prescription drugs.
Phagro Chairman André Blümel argues that this change is putting pressure on margins. Indeed, he maintains that there is now an “urgent need for action” since the current remuneration arrangements for wholesalers take into account “neither the structural changes in the pharmaceutical market nor the significant cost increases of the past ten years”.
Sources:
- www.deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de, “Spanne fällt unter 4 Prozent – Großhandel will Honoraranpassung”, 7th February 2022
- www.phagro.de, “Kraftakt an der Belastungsgrenze – Pharmagroßhandel sieht seine kritische Infrastruktur in Gefahr”, 7th February 2022
- www.apoteke-adhoc.de, “Großhändler fordern Honorarerhöhung”, 7th February 2022
- https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/322444/HiT-pharmaceutical-regulation-15-European-countries.pdf