Pharma Industry Finland has commissioned a study from the Nordic Healthcare Group entitled “Economic impacts of self-care medication, with self-care reflected against its institutional operating environment”. It concluded that the European legislation on marketing authorisations as well as the marketing and advertising of medicines is quite harmonised but that medicines’ pricing, reimbursement and distribution systems vary at the national level.

The amendments envisaged in the EU legislation could accelerate the price and reimbursability examination process in Finland. In its Medicines Policy document, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health undertook to develop the national procedure. The new directive proposal will impact this work. Pharma Industry Finland PIF continues to collaborate with the Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board PPB on reimbursability issues. A well-working application procedure is increasingly important for the availability of medicines if the Finnish wholesale prices are further cut, moving Finnish prices away from the price level in other EU countries.

​ According to recently published statistic compiled by the authorities, Finnish wholesale prices of medicines are at the lower end among the European reference countries and cheapest in the Nordic countries. The proposed cut of the medicine wholesales prices by 5% as of the beginning of 2013 will bring Finland's price level under that of Greece, restricting the selection of reimbursable medicines available to patients.