Pricing pressures may affect drug development, says Bayer CEO

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Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

There is a risk that medical innovation will be undermined due to government pressures on pricing, according to Bayer AG’S Chief Executive, Marijn Dekkers. While many governments involved in setting drug prices face budget pressures, Marijn believes it is easier to attack pharmaceutical companies rather than finding methods to control healthcare costs. He made these comments during a speech at the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club.

"The danger of pushing the prices of prescription drugs down, down, down is that at some point the business model of developing these drugs will lose its attractiveness."

Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers.

Another issue facing pharma companies at the moment is the increasing pressure from generic competition, as they lose patent protection on some of their biggest selling products. Bayer’s recent petition to an Indian patents appeals board, to block the entry of a generic version of its cancer drug, Nexavar, was rejected.