German health ministry maintains rebates despite surplus

Germany's Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) said it will maintain mandatory 16% drug rebates despite calls from industry for their repeal following a report Wednesday that the country's public health insurance funds (GKV) posted a 1H12 surplus of EUR 2.7 billion ($3.4 billion). Birgit Fischer, director general of the German Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA), issued a statement Wednesday calling the continued rebates "unfounded" in light of GKV's financial position. In June, Fischer made a similar statement following GKV's report of a 1Q12 surplus (see BioCentury Extra, June 20).

In a separate statement, Henning Fahrenkamp, senior managing director of the Association of the German Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI), called BMG's move "unjustified." ...