This week, the Socialist Party called on the Swiss government to buy Sandoz, a large maker of generic and biosimilar drugs, reported SRF. At a time when there are shortages of certain medicines, the party argues that profit maximising companies cannot be relied on to produce the drugs needed by the population at affordable prices. Buying a large drug company and running it as a non-profit would remedy this, it argues.
Co-President of the party Mattea Meyer told SRF that companies can charge horrendous prices for drugs and can decide which drugs are developed and which are not. This means that unprofitable but important drugs, such as antibiotics are sometimes neglected.
Buying the company would be expensive. It is currently valued at around CHF 15 billion. However, if anyone moved to buy it that price would surely climb. The envisioned plan would involve a loan from the federal government.
Politically, the plan has little chance of success. Too many think such a move would be economically damaging and that it would not solve key problems. Purchasing Sandoz would not solve drug shortages, which are caused by bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials, argues Lukas Schmid, an economist at the think tank Avenir Suisse. Operating as a non-profit would not change this. The real problem is the concentration of the supply of raw materials in a few companies outside Switzerland.
Some think the party is using the idea to generate attention to start a discussion about more state intervention in the supply of medicines to the population.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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