News

May 2026

Pedersen & Partners and CMS Switzerland hosted the Life Sciences & Healthcare Breakfast in Zurich, bringing together senior executives from the Swiss healthcare and life sciences sectors for a focused discussion on:

“Between Regulation, Cost Pressure and Resilience: Security of Supply as a Leadership Responsibility.”

The discussion was hosted by Christoph Willi, Partner Life Sciences at CMS von Erlach Partners, and Thomas Markwirth, Country Manager Switzerland at Pedersen & Partners.

A few key points stood out:

• Growth is volume-driven, not only price-driven
  Cost increases in reimbursed medicines are often linked to more patients being treated, not simply to rising prices. Medical progress expands access and changes the cost dynamic.
• Regulation must avoid overengineering
  Cost-containment measures need to be proportionate. Excessive price pressure may create limited savings while weakening patient access to innovation.
• Innovation can prevent costs elsewhere
  New therapies should not only be viewed as cost drivers. They can reduce hospitalisations, replace more invasive treatments, and lower broader social and economic costs.
• A siloed budget view is too narrow
  Looking only at the medicines budget misses the wider healthcare impact. The economic assessment should consider the full system, not one cost segment in isolation.
• Low prices today can create higher costs tomorrow
  Delayed access to innovative therapies may lead to disease progression, hospitalisation, and productivity losses over time.
• Security of supply is a competitiveness issue
  Companies invest and launch products in markets with predictable frameworks. Regulatory uncertainty and excessive price pressure can affect product availability.
• There is no competition without market access
  Generics and biosimilars depend on original medicines being launched first. If market entry becomes unattractive, later competition is also weakened.

A sincere thank you to our panelists for their valuable perspectives:

• Rebecca Guntern, CCO, Sandoz
• Katharina M. Gasser, General Manager, Roche Pharma Switzerland
• Vera Hirsch, Sanitas Krankenversicherung, Lead Pharma – Partnering & Policy and Member of the Federal Drug Commission

Thank you also to all participants for contributing to an open and relevant discussion on a critical leadership topic for the Swiss healthcare sector.