Deadly prices

Confidential agreements and medicines out of reach for millions. This investigation goes inside Europe’s secret drug pricing system, revealing a world of opaque deals and unequal access.

June 2024

What is the price of a life? When it comes to medicines, that varies a lot globally. It varies in Europe, too.

“Where you live should not determine whether you live or die,” said EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides last year. However, millions of Europeans lack access to medicines that save or prolong lives in other European countries. The investigation reveals that in six EU countries one in four of 32 important medicines analysed is missing.

Why is that? Not least because they are priced out of reach. These are two of the findings in our new investigation into pricing and access to medicines in Europe.

Some news is great: the pharmaceutical pipeline is bursting with new therapies that seem like gamechangers. They give new hope to cancer patients who were losing it. Some offer substantially better quality of life to children born with rare and painful diseases.

But the promises come with a price that make such drugs unattainable for many. Public pharmaceutical budgets, too, are buckling under the double weight of rising expectations from desperate patients and galloping prices that pharmaceutical producers demand for their innovations.

The prices are not the same, however. The pharmaceutical industry says they would like countries to pay according to their means, so that the rich would pay more than the not so rich. Reality seems different: our scrutiny of the breakthrough drugs of one pharmaceutical producer indicates that the company charges much more in some low-income countries than in other, well-to-do economies.

But only industry has all the facts. For the past 15 years, a blanket of secrecy has been laid over the vast European pharmaceutical market. Companies approach countries separately to offer new drugs with a discount, provided they never tell any other country what that rebate is.

From our eight-months’ investigation we have found this, and much more, about a system that determines how sick people in Europe live or die. There is a lot to wrap one’s head around:

Why do our governments accept being kept in the dark about the true monetary value of a medicine?

Why does the EU not use its muscles to negotiate medicine prices on behalf of all Europeans, like it did for the covid vaccines?

Why has the regulator for market access of medicines, the European Medicines Agency, lowered the scientific thresholstad for allowing new drugs to be sold?

Where do the bumper profits made by big pharma really end up?

Are pharmaceutical firms using patient groups and charities for their own corporate interests?

How come the pharmaceutical industry is developing loads of highly advanced precision drugs for small patient groups, but hardly addresses our common, growing threat of antimicrobial resistance?

Medicines should be a human right for all, not primarily one of the world’s most lucrative businesses. What could such a system look like?

The investigation, Deadly prices: how big pharma feeds inequality in Europe, is released from today with media partners in 20 countries across Europe. You will find the series published on our English website and with our media partners below. In addition, important stories will be published in German, French, Italian and Spanish.

More from Deadly prices

Help bringour cross-border journalism to life.Support Investigate EuropeDonate

Publications

Auf Wunsch der Lobbyisten

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

11 October 2024

Gesetzesänderung zugunsten von US-Pharmakonzern

Tagesschau, Germany

11 October 2024

Pharmakonzerne zahlen Millionen an Patientenorganisationen

Tagesanzeiger, Switzerland

27 September 2024

Patient groups in Europe received €110m from drug companies in 2022

British Medical Journal, United Kingdom

26 September 2024

Mέγας χορηγός των ελληνικών ενώσεων ασθενών η φαρμακοβιομηχανία

EfSyn, Greece

23 September 2024

Μέγας χορηγός των ελληνικών ενώσεων ασθενών η φαρμακοβιομηχανία

Reporters United, Greece

23 September 2024

Big Pharma, 12 milioni all’Italia: autonomia a rischio e poca trasparenza

Il Fatto Quotidiano, Italy

16 September 2024

Drug firms finance Europe’s 'patient groups' with multi-million donations

EUobserver, Belgium

16 September 2024

Las farmacéuticas destinan 110 millones al año a financiar a las asociaciones europeas de pacientes

infoLibre, Spain

15 September 2024

Pharmaindustrie finanziert Patientengruppen mit Millionenspenden

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

14 September 2024

Cât costă dreptul la viață al unui pacient în funcție de codul său poștal. Prețuri mortale

Snoop, Romania

21 August 2024

Prețuri mortale. Din 32 de medicamente inovatoare ale momentului, existente în Europa, 10 nu sunt decontate în România

Snoop, Romania

13 August 2024

O Preco da Vida

Radio e Televiaso de Portugal, Portugal

18 July 2024

How Big Pharma preys on poor countries – and patients pay the price

OpenDemocracy, UK

17 July 2024

Vrzeli v razpoložljivosti zdravil proti raku v EU

Ostro, Slovenia

15 July 2024

Pharmakonzerne horten Milliarden in Steueroasen, während Patienten um ihr Leben kämpfen

21 June 2024

Φαρμακοβιομηχανία: Τα λεφτά σου ή τη ζωή σου

Reporters United, Greece

infoLibre, Spain

15 June 2024

Kunnen we onze medicijnen nog wel vertrouwen?

Trouw, Netherlands

15 June 2024

La Audiencia Nacional avala la batalla de Sanidad para impedir que se conozca el precio real de los fármacos

infoLibre, Spain

14 June 2024

Pengene eller livet

Klassekampen, Norway

14 June 2024

Európa a gyógyszeripar markában

Partizán, Hungary

13 June 2024

Kad Modrim dzīvošanai nepieciešamās zāles apmaksās valsts? Skaidri uz to neviens neatbild

Delfi, Latvia

13 June 2024

Vertailu: Tärkeiden syöpälääkkeiden saatavuudessa on valtavia eroja Euroopan sisällä

Yleisradio Oy , Finland

13 June 2024

Begehrte Medikamente, hohe Preise: So laufen Europas geheime Pharma-Deals

Der Standard, Austria

13 June 2024

TAPVAD HINNAD | Raskelt haiged vajavad uusi ülikalleid ravimeid, mis võivad teha imet. Eesti ei suuda neid kinni maksta

Eesti Ekspress, Estonia

13 June 2024

TAPVAD HINNAD | Oled vait või maksad rohkem: ravimifirmad sunnivad valitsusi salatsema, et oma ravimeid kallimalt müüa

Eesti Ekspress, Estonia

13 June 2024

Tödliche-Preise: Der ungleiche Zugang zu Medikamenten in der EU

arte journal, France/Germany/Spain

13 June 2024

Europe: la santé hors de prix

arte journal, France/Germany/Spain

13 June 2024

Tödliche Preise – Ungleicher Zugang zu lebenswichtigen Medikamenten in der EU

Deutschlandfunk, Germany

13 June 2024

In EU-Staaten fehlen Medikamente - Interview

tagesschau24, Germany

13 June 2024

Lauterbachs Pharmagesetz: Milliardengeschenk für Konzerne?

Das Erste, Germany

13 June 2024

Zahl oder stirb

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

13 June 2024

Tödliche Preise: Wenn der Wohnort darüber entscheidet, wer Krebs überlebt

Der Standard, Austria

13 June 2024

Werden Arzneimittelpreise zum Geheimnis?

Tagesschau, Germany

13 June 2024

Kalju Kivi sai uue lootuse kallist ravimist: muidugi on mul veel unistusi

Eesti Ekspress, Estonia

13 June 2024

Gyvybės kaina (I): nuo mirties gelbstintys vaistai metais stringa Lietuvos biurokratijos gniaužtuose, viceministras siūlo nedramatizuoti

15min-lit, Lithuania

13 June 2024

Cystic fibrosis ‘miracle’ drugs priced higher for poorer EU countries

The Journal, Ireland

More from Deadly prices

Help bringour cross-border journalism to life.Support Investigate EuropeDonate

Publications

Auf Wunsch der Lobbyisten

Gesetzesänderung zugunsten von US-Pharmakonzern

Pharmakonzerne zahlen Millionen an Patienten­organisationen

Patient groups in Europe received €110m from drug companies in 2022

Mέγας χορηγός των ελληνικών ενώσεων ασθενών η φαρμακοβιομηχανία

Μέγας χορηγός των ελληνικών ενώσεων ασθενών η φαρμακοβιομηχανία

Big Pharma, 12 milioni all’Italia: autonomia a rischio e poca trasparenza

Drug firms finance Europe’s 'patient groups' with multi-million donations

Las farmacéuticas destinan 110 millones al año a financiar a las asociaciones europeas de pacientes

Pharmaindustrie finanziert Patientengruppen mit Millionenspenden

Cât costă dreptul la viață al unui pacient în funcție de codul său poștal. Prețuri mortale

Prețuri mortale. Din 32 de medicamente inovatoare ale momentului, existente în Europa, 10 nu sunt decontate în România

O Preco da Vida

How Big Pharma preys on poor countries – and patients pay the price

Vrzeli v razpoložljivosti zdravil proti raku v EU

Pharmakonzerne horten Milliarden in Steueroasen, während Patienten um ihr Leben kämpfen

De la transparencia a la investigación pública: cómo lograr que los fármacos sean un derecho y no un negocio

TAPVAD HINNAD | „Turg on täis ravimeid, mis pakuvad ainult lootust.“ Euroopa Ravimiameti kohal hõljuvad suurtootjate raha ja mõjuvõim

Quince multinacionales farmacéuticas disponen de más de 1.300 filiales en paraísos fiscales

Pharma firms maximise profits in Ireland as patients struggle with drug prices

Inovatívne lieky zachraňujú životy, no v štátoch EÚ nie sú rovnako dostupné a preplácané zo zdravotného poistenia

Las farmacéuticas se resisten a crear nuevos antibióticos mientras Ucrania dispara el temor a una crisis sanitaria

Tajná evropská jednání o cenách léků a jejich dostupnosti

Medisin dyrest i fattige EU-land

Wie die Pharmaindustrie Europas Arzneimittelbehörde EMA beeinflusst

Φαρμακοβιομηχανία: Τα λεφτά σου ή τη ζωή σου

Riasztó a magyar tb-támogatásból hiányzó kritikus gyógyszerek száma

Tar omkamp om skjulte priser

Las puertas giratorias funcionan sin obstáculos en la Agencia Europea de Medicamentos

Sanità da ricchi, come si muore in Ue: senza rimborsi ai pazienti, negato l’accesso ai farmaci salva-vita

Sanità, porte girevoli tra le aziende e l’Agenzia europea del farmaco: affari e conflitti

Sanità, studi clinici di Ema: così in Europa viene sacrificata la salute dei pazienti

Actos. Il farmaco per il diabete, ritirato in Germania e Francia, ancora prescritto in Italia (e rimborsato)

La guerra dei farmaci e il sistema segreto dei prezzi: gli accordi imposti da ‘Big Pharma’.

Big Pharma influence hangs over Europe’s medicines regulator

La Agencia Europea de Medicamentos recibe casi la mitad de sus ingresos de 21 grandes farmacéuticas

Kunnen we onze medicijnen nog wel vertrouwen?

La Audiencia Nacional avala la batalla de Sanidad para impedir que se conozca el precio real de los fármacos

Pengene eller livet

Európa a gyógyszeripar markában

Kad Modrim dzīvošanai nepieciešamās zāles apmaksās valsts? Skaidri uz to neviens neatbild

Vertailu: Tärkeiden syöpälääkkeiden saatavuudessa on valtavia eroja Euroopan sisällä

Begehrte Medikamente, hohe Preise: So laufen Europas geheime Pharma-Deals

TAPVAD HINNAD | Raskelt haiged vajavad uusi ülikalleid ravimeid, mis võivad teha imet. Eesti ei suuda neid kinni maksta

TAPVAD HINNAD | Oled vait või maksad rohkem: ravimifirmad sunnivad valitsusi salatsema, et oma ravimeid kallimalt müüa

Tödliche-Preise: Der ungleiche Zugang zu Medikamenten in der EU

Europe: la santé hors de prix

Tödliche Preise – Ungleicher Zugang zu lebenswichtigen Medikamenten in der EU

In EU-Staaten fehlen Medikamente - Interview

Lauterbachs Pharmagesetz: Milliardengeschenk für Konzerne?

Zahl oder stirb

Tödliche Preise: Wenn der Wohnort darüber entscheidet, wer Krebs überlebt

Werden Arzneimittelpreise zum Geheimnis?

Kalju Kivi sai uue lootuse kallist ravimist: muidugi on mul veel unistusi

Gyvybės kaina (I): nuo mirties gelbstintys vaistai metais stringa Lietuvos biurokratijos gniaužtuose, viceministras siūlo nedramatizuoti

Cystic fibrosis ‘miracle’ drugs priced higher for poorer EU countries

Pieniądze albo życie. Międzynarodowe śledztwo dziennikarskie pokazuje ciemną stronę Big Pharmy

La bolsa o la vida: las negociaciones secretas que imponen en Europa las farmacéuticas

El fármaco milagro contra la fibrosis quística por el que pagan un precio más caro países con menos recursos

Alarmantes lagunas en la disponibilidad de medicamentos innovadores en la UE

Medicine dealers: Europe’s secret drug negotiations

Pharmakonzerne zahlen Millionen an Patientenorganisationen