Three questions to our new board members: President Region Europe at Novartis und Vice President of the Interpharma Board

What do you want to focus on in your role as Vice President Interpharma?

In my role as Head of the Novartis business in Europe, I have noticed that many countries are making great efforts to create attractive framework conditions for the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, Switzerland is currently lagging behind here. I hope that, as Vice President of Interpharma, I can contribute to finding ways, together with other stakeholders, to make Switzerland more attractive as a pharmaceutical location again.

2. Where do you see the most urgent need for action for Switzerland as a pharmaceutical location?

I see two areas where we urgently need to make progress:
One area is regulated relations with the EU. For the pharmaceutical sector, access to qualified workers and to the EU internal market are of great importance. The EU is Switzerland’s most important trading partner; more than half of our exports go there. Switzerland earns one in three Swiss francs from trade with the EU. It is therefore essential that we ensure that Switzerland continues to participate in the EU internal market in the future – and can recruit workers without barriers, export without hurdles and participate fully in the EU research framework programs.

The second area is the modernization of the pricing system for innovative medicines. Access to medicines in Switzerland is already restricted by international standards – and we note that this situation is currently deteriorating further. In order to change this, it is important that therapeutic cross-comparisons are made on the basis of comprehensible scientific and medical criteria when setting prices and that the comparison of prices abroad is carried out using prices adjusted for purchasing power. In addition, a benefit assessment with clear criteria should be introduced, as has long been practiced in other countries. In this way, we can ensure that innovation is once again rewarded and that patients in a modern country like Switzerland can also be treated with the best possible therapies.

The Interpharma annual report focused on the value of the pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland: for patients, research and the economy. What comes to mind spontaneously for each of these areas?

The value of the pharmaceutical industry for patients is obvious: many diseases for which medicine could hardly do anything twenty years ago can now be treated well thanks to innovative medicines. Better quality of life, longer life – modern medicines are of immense importance. 

The value for research is also clear: at around 9 billion CHF per year, the pharmaceutical industry invests more money in research and development in Switzerland than any other industry. This is many times more than the turnover of these companies in this country.

This brings me to my final point: the immense value of the pharmaceutical industry for the Swiss economy. In addition to the approx. 50,000 people who work directly for pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland, around 250,000 jobs are created indirectly by the pharmaceutical industry in other sectors. Pharma contributes around 10% of the total gross domestic product and is responsible for around 40% of all Swiss exports.

All this shows how important it is for Switzerland to remain attractive as a pharmaceutical location and for the market to reward innovation appropriately. We are currently seeing that pharmaceutical innovation is no longer sufficiently valued and the location is clearly losing its attractiveness. This process must be stopped.