The Federal Office of Public Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit, FOPH) has completed consultation on medicine-pricing elements of Switzerland’s second cost-containment package. The consultation, which ran from 18 February to 26 May 2026, covered ordinance changes linked to pricing and reimbursement, including cost-consequence models and revised arrangements for high-cost innovative medicines.
The consultation followed the Federal Council’s February 2026 proposal to implement medicines elements of the wider cost-containment package. FOPH is developing the ordinance provisions with affected stakeholders, including pharmaceutical industry associations and insurers.
The Association of Pharmaceutical Companies in Switzerland (Vereinigung Pharmafirmen in der Schweiz, VIPS) submitted a consultation response arguing that the package again moves against the pharmaceutical industry and calls for a pause in measures driven mainly by cost reduction. It warns that, without countermeasures, innovations and new medicines may reach the Swiss market late or not at all.
Scienceindustries submitted a response describing the proposed changes to the Health Insurance Ordinance (Krankenversicherungsverordnung, KVV) and the Health Care Benefits Ordinance (Krankenpflege-Leistungsverordnung, KLV) as affecting central conditions for medicines regulation in Switzerland, with possible consequences for supply, innovation and the country’s attractiveness as a life-sciences location.
Its response links the Swiss proposals to a changed international pricing environment. Scienceindustries points in particular to new reference-price rules in key markets, led by the United States, where most-favoured-nation pricing policy seeks to connect some US prices to lower prices in other high-income countries. Its concern is that lower prices in a small market such as Switzerland could increasingly feed into pricing decisions in much larger markets.
The arguments raised by industry point to a wider access-policy significance. The debate is no longer only about how Switzerland should divide savings between insurers, patients and manufacturers. It is also about whether a small high-income market can tighten domestic price controls without making itself less attractive in global launch sequencing.
Source: Federal Office of Public Health; VIPS; scienceindustries
Link: Medikamentenpreise in der Schweiz – häufige Fragen (Medicine prices in Switzerland – frequently asked questions)
Vernehmlassung zum Kostendämpfungspaket 2 – unsere ausführliche vips Stellungnahme ist eingereicht (Consultation on the second cost-containment package – our detailed VIPS response has been submitted)
Stellungnahme: Änderung Krankenversicherung- und Krankenpflegeleistungsverordnung – Umsetzung des Kostendämpfungspakets 2 im Arzneimittelbereich (Response: amendment of the Health Insurance Ordinance and Health Care Benefits Ordinance – implementation of the second cost-containment package in the medicines area)
Date: 22 May 2026
