NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, May 2, 2016

France will press its G7 partners this month to launch an “irreversible” process to control the prices of new medicines, part of a global drive to make life-saving drugs more affordable, three sources told Reuters.

President Francois Hollande said in March he would push for the international regulation of drugs prices when he meets other G7 leaders in Ise-Shima, Japan on May 26-27.

The sources said the issue was now on the summit agenda and health ministers will continue work on it in Kobe in September when other parties, such as the pharmaceutical companies themselves, could potentially be involved.

“We need to initiate this process with firmness, and the president wants it to be irreversible,” said a source close to Hollande.