# Germany must turn pharma promises into law

> Roche argues Germany's conflicting signals on drug innovation are driving investment and research elsewhere, threatening medical supply and sovereignty.
- Title: Germany must turn pharma promises into law · POLITICO
- Summary: Roche argues Germany's conflicting signals on drug innovation are driving investment and research elsewhere, threatening medical supply and sovereignty…
- Keywords: roche pharma ag, germany, pharmaceutical industry, drug pricing, healthcare regulation, innovation policy, manufacturer discounts, standortklausel, politics, world, must, turn
- Source: POLITICO — https://politico.eu/sponsored-content/berechenbare-risiken-unberechenbare-politik-warum-deutschland-jetzt-aus-worten-gesetze-machen-muss
- Published: 2026-10-09T03:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: roche pharma ag, germany, pharmaceutical industry, drug pricing, healthcare regulation, innovation policy, manufacturer discounts, standortklausel, politics, world
## Risk versus uncertainty
In economics, risk can be calculated and managed because the rules are known. Uncertainty arises when the rules themselves keep changing, making decisions impossible to plan.
## Pharma's calculated gamble
Developing a new medicine takes ten to fifteen years and billions of euros, with over ninety percent failure rates. The pharmaceutical industry accepts this risk as part of its innovation-focused business model.
## Germany's mixed signals
Germany's coalition agreement promised commitment to the pharmaceutical sector, but legislation introduced artificial price caps and forced discounts, contradicting those promises and undermining industry confidence.

> Wer Zukunftsversprechen formuliert, im Alltag der Gesetzgebung aber vor allem den Rotstift an Innovation und Fortschritt ansetzt, konterkariert jegliche Industriepolitik und erstickt Vertrauen im Keim
## Capital flows to friendlier markets
The USA holds over fifty percent of the global pharmaceutical market while Germany accounts for only four to five percent. Risk capital is globally mobile and flows to markets with innovation-friendly conditions.
## Europe's research decline
Europe's share of global pharmaceutical research has fallen from over forty percent to nearly thirty percent in recent decades. Clinical trial participation halved to nine percent within a decade.
## Germany loses innovation ranking
Germany has fallen out of the top ten most innovative economies in the world for the first time, according to the Global Innovation Index of the WIPO.
## Patients miss new medicines
Every third medicine newly approved in the USA no longer reaches patients in Germany. Two thirds of these are therapies with recognised high innovation status, alarming for medical supply.
## Proposed location clause solution
An expert commission proposed linking manufacturer discounts to a location clause, exempting companies investing in Germany from some additional burdens introduced by the GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz.
## Efficiency gains possible
Modern diagnostics, digital processes and innovative therapies could free over forty billion euros annually within the healthcare system, plus indirect benefits to economy, growth and prosperity.
## Law needed to signal commitment
Billion-euro investment decisions follow reliable actions, not commission papers. Germany must turn the location clause proposal into effective, unbureaucratic law to demonstrate political commitment to pharmaceutical strategy.

> milliardenschwere Investitionsentscheidungen in die Zukunft Deutschlands folgen keinen Kommissionspapieren, sondern verlässlichen Taten
## Key takeaway

Roche Pharma AG warns that Germany's regulatory uncertainty and price controls are deterring pharmaceutical investment and research, and calls for legislation linking manufacturer discounts to domestic investment commitments.