Switzerland and USA sign pharma agreement

On 12 January, Switzerland and the USA signed an agreement in Washington that will dismantle trade barriers for companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Thanks to the agreement, both countries can waive expensive mutual inspections of production facilities. Instead, they will rely on the inspection results from their partner authority. This simplification does not affect the applicable regulatory requirements for the approval of medicinal products in Switzerland and the USA.

The Federal Council gave the green light for the agreement on 16 December. However, according to a government statement, the corresponding assessment of whether the partner authority would comply with the domestic requirements was not expected to be completed until mid-2023. This assessment was a prerequisite for the agreement to take effect.

The industry association Interpharma “welcomes” the agreement in a statement. This agreement, for which Interpharma has been engaging “intensively and resolutely” over recent years, "significantly" reduces administrative hurdles between the two countries. It also strengthens trade and the resilience of global supply chains. “Our commitment has paid off," Interpharma Managing Director René Buholzer said in the statement. The association is "very grateful" to the Federal Council for pushing forward with this agreement. This "is an important step for Switzerland as a production location".

Echoing these sentiments, scienceindustries also welcomed the signing of this sectoral agreement, which, as the trade association Chemie Pharma Life Sciences explains, also contributes to improving the security of the supply of medicines.