Roche puts all new investment in Germany on hold as Merz hosts investor summit
The drugmaker cited savings rules in the health system, with its German chief saying politicians had destroyed much trust. An already approved expansion in Penzberg is not affected.
Archive image · Photo: HerrAdams / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Swiss drugmaker Roche has put all future investment decisions in Germany on hold, its German chief Daniel Steiners told the newspaper Welt. The company employs more than 18,000 people in the country.
Steiners blamed savings measures for Germany's statutory health insurers, including higher mandatory manufacturer rebates, saying politicians had recently "destroyed a great deal of trust" in the pharmaceutical sector. A Roche spokeswoman said an already approved expansion in Penzberg, Bavaria, was not affected.
The announcement came on the day Chancellor Friedrich Merz was hosting some 200 chief executives at an investment summit in Berlin. Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim had earlier cut or scrapped investment plans in Germany, while the umbrella group of statutory insurers said the industry was earning handsomely in the country.