The Federal Constitutional Court has rejected two constitutional complaints filed by pharmaceutical companies challenging measures aimed at drug price regulation. The Karlsruhe-based judges announced the decision on Wednesday.
The complaints were deemed partially inadmissible. The court found that the complainants had not sufficiently demonstrated the requirement of subsidiarity inherent in constitutional complaints, nor had they presented sufficiently substantiated claims of fundamental rights violations. Regarding the complaints specifically addressing the manufacturer discount and the extension of the price moratorium, the court found them to be unfounded.
The court determined that the fundamental rights infringements resulting from the legislation were justified. Notably, the measures were deemed proportionate, as the legislative objective of ensuring the financial stability of the statutory health insurance system outweighed competing interests in the balancing exercise.
The complaints targeted the law designed to financially stabilize the statutory health insurance system, which includes a range of measures aimed at securing the system’s financial stability. The pharmaceutical companies argued that measures such as the manufacturer discount, the extension of the price moratorium and regulations concerning price reductions for new, patented drugs infringed upon their right to freely exercise their profession. They also claimed unfair treatment in the application of the regulations (decision of May 17, 2024 – 1 BvR 1507/23, 1 BvR 2197/23).
