Germany’s Ministry of Health has filed complaints against pharmacies suspected of illegally reselling the state-funded COVID-19 drug Paxlovid. In February 2022, the federal government purchased one million boxes of Paxlovid from the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, making them available to pharmacies free of charge for COVID patients.

In early 2023, the Federal Ministry of Health found that some pharmacies in Germany had ordered huge quantities of Paxlovid, in some cases more than 1,000 boxes, with the suspicion that there were not really that many patients to buy Paxlovid – in one pharmacy.

The conclusion was also made after specific discussions with pharmacists. For example, a chain responsible for four pharmacies in Berlin told German media: “Depending on the location of our pharmacies, we have delivered between five and 30 packages during 2022.” A similar situation existed in 2023.

Investigations throughout Germany

The General Counsel of Germany’s Ministry of Health has filed complaints against several pharmacies with large orders because of suspicions that they may have illegally sold drugs. According to WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, cited by Tagesschau.de, the ministry has filed criminal complaints against pharmacists with more than 25 prosecutors across the country. In most of these cases, investigations are still ongoing.

In Bavaria, the prosecutor’s office raided various pharmacies in Upper Bavaria, Franconia, Upper Palatinate in January due to corruption in the health care system. “They sold Paxlovid without taking into account the requirements of the Ministry of Health, so they diverted it,” Chief Prosecutor Matthias Held said when asked by television stations WDR, NDR and newspaper SZ.

In Berlin, the prosecutor’s office ordered a search of six pharmacies. One would order 1,400 packs of Paxlovid, the other over 1,800 packs. Investigators say that there is still no conclusion about the final destination of the stolen drugs. The spokesman of the Berlin prosecutor’s office estimates the possible losses in the capital of Germany at three million euros.

In Frankfurt am Main, a downtown pharmacy allegedly ordered nearly 10,000 packs of Paxlovid. Investigations in Frankfurt are still ongoing and, as the prosecutor there said, “the conclusion of the proceedings is not yet in sight.”

In Hamburg, the prosecutor’s office announced that it was investigating two pharmacy owners “suspected of violating the drug law.” Although investigations are still ongoing in most cases, prosecutors in Darmstadt, Hanover and Werden have suspended investigations due to a lack of evidence.

Instead, in Baden-Baden, the prosecutor’s office has already completed the investigation and charged the pharmacist at the end of last year. The charge in this case is corruption combined with unauthorized wholesale trade. According to the prosecutor in charge, the pharmacist sold a total of 1,393 packages of Paxlovid to “unidentified persons abroad.”

The investigation appears difficult, it is difficult to find out whether the drugs paid for by the state were illegally resold or simply thrown away after the expiration date, as the concerned pharmacists claim. “There is no requirement that pharmacists specifically document the disposal of Paxlovid packets,” said one researcher.

Huge price for a pack of Paxlovid

The price Germany paid Pfizer for the Paxlovid package has been a closely guarded secret until now. Investigations by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung revealed that the federal government paid around €650 per package, for a total of around €650 million. Neither the pharmaceutical giant nor the Ministry of Health want to comment on the price, citing confidentiality.

When asked, the ministry simply stated that wholesalers delivered 560,000 packages to pharmacies. Due to the lack of specific data, it is not known how many packages actually reached the patients.

Figures from the Federal Office of Social Security (BAS), however, bear this out. For each prescribed package, wholesalers, pharmacists and doctors can charge a total of around €60, which BAS reimburses. The federal agency will pay more than 18 million euros for this until the end of 2023. From this it can be assumed that it could have been provided. about 300,000 packages.

From mid-January, the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer begins direct sales of Paxlovid in Germany, and health insurance companies take over the payment. This means that in the future, the federal government will no longer pay for drugs, but health insurance companies, which will now have to spend much more. According to the Federal Health Insurance Association AOK, the drug will now cost 1,149.19 euros per package in pharmacies.

According to Pfizer spokeswoman Carolyn Crockett, “the price reflects the outcome of reimbursement negotiations with the National Association of Public Health Insurance Funds. In addition, Pfizer told German media that the agreed price “always depends on the conditions in the relevant market”.

Bought and wasted

Paxlovid is designed to reduce the chance of hospitalization due to Covid-19. After contracting the coronavirus, Chancellor Olaf Scholz took Paxlovid pills, as did Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. By their publicized example, they somehow functioned as marketers of a state product.

Here’s what the Irish Times also wrote last month about the waste of public money in Europe on a drug that wasn’t used as expected, then ended: “More than a billion dollars worth of Pfizer antivirals for Covid-19 bought in Europe were wasted , as strict controls over who could get the drug left millions of doses unused before the expiration date. Paxlovid, designed to be given to patients immediately after testing positive for the virus, was much easier to obtain in the United States than in Europe, where access was often limited to the elderly or those at high risk of developing severe Covid. . Data from the Airfinity think tank shows that European countries, including the UK, France, Spain and Italy, could make the drug more affordable without depleting stocks, with more than 1.5 million five-day courses of pills worth about $1.1 billion (1 billion euros) has expired, although the use dates have been extended by six to 12 months.”

According to Airfinity, an estimated 3.1 million packages will expire by the end of February 2024, increasing the cost to European healthcare systems to around $2.2 billion (€2 billion). The data does not include contracts that were at the EU level. (Photo: Dreamstime.com)