Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche freezes future investments in Germany

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has put all future investment decisions in Germany on hold, Euronews and Reuters both report. The decision was announced as a government backed investment summit began in Berlin. [1][2][3][5][8]

Daniel Steiners, the head of Roche Germany, told the newspaper Die Welt that recent political decisions have destroyed a great deal of trust in the pharmaceutical sector. Euronews reported that German lawmakers passed a bill in July that forces pharmaceutical firms to cut prices to reduce health costs. [1]

BigGo Finance reported that the pushback follows a drug rebate increase to 15.5 percent. Benzinga added that the suspension comes amid a dispute over drug discounts. [5][6]

Roche maintains a leading position in oncology therapies and produces drugs such as Avastin and Tecentriq, while also developing diagnostics and antiviral treatments like Tamiflu. [11]