Pharmaceuticals companies are owed €12bn (£10bn) for unpaid medicine bills
in the eurozone – half of that in Spain – according to a senior executive, who
said that the industry was counting on the help of the International Monetary
Fund and the European Union to recover its debts.
Bruno Strigini, president of Europe/Canada at
US drug maker Merck, said that of the €12bn owed to the pharma industry in
Europe – debts that are more than 30 days old – €6bn is outstanding in Spain. A
further €4bn is owed to medical device manufacturers, which have recently
written an open letter to the new Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.
Speaking at the Economist's annual pharmaceuticals summit in London, Strigini acknowledged that the Spanish government was "making an effort", with the IMF and EU also helping. But he added: "It's clearly an issue. How are we going to recover the money that is owed? We're right in the middle of these discussions. I can't see how we can get to a solution that satisfies us without the help of international institutions."
Speaking at the Economist's annual pharmaceuticals summit in London, Strigini acknowledged that the Spanish government was "making an effort", with the IMF and EU also helping. But he added: "It's clearly an issue. How are we going to recover the money that is owed? We're right in the middle of these discussions. I can't see how we can get to a solution that satisfies us without the help of international institutions."
On Tuesday, GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Andrew Witty said the company
had stepped up efforts to
recover its debts from eurozone governments, especially
in southern Europe.
The drugs industry has also been hit by heavy European price cuts; Strigini
described it as a "prime target of austerity measures".