Bayer chairman Werner Wenning has hit out at proposed health care reforms in Germany which, he says, are strangling competition and creating an unhealthy operating environment.

Speaking at the company’s autumn press conference in Leverkusen, he said that, as the largest health care company based in Germany, Bayer is “actively participating in the current debate” about reform, and “I am convinced that we need more competition in the health care system, rather than even more regulation.”

Wenning added that the frequency of reforms in the country “shows what happens when there is insufficient competition. Since 1983, there have been a grand total of 13 so-called reforms and, each time, the pharmaceutical industry has had to make its contribution.”

He mentioned the cost/benefit analysis for innovative drugs, “which is not in line with international standards,” and the plan to introduce reimbursement limits for such drugs, “which would put an end to market-based pricing.” This, he says, is strangling competition and creating an unhealthy operating environment.

Wenning concluded by saying: “Experience so far has shown that competitive market conditions produce the best results – especially when it comes to researching innovative drugs.”