Blog #24: Ready for the movies

By Lars Dörhage
reading time: 2 Minutes

Berlin 19.09.2023, an important date for two parallel events: The Annual General Meeting of the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association, BPI, and the General Meeting of the German Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, BAH. On the agenda for both meetings: The members' vote on the merger agreement between the two associations to form a joint VPI, the Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry. I am not announcing anything new, the merger is not taking place. That gave me a lot to think about! 

No merger 

While the BAH companies voted 86% in favour of the joint project, the companies organized in the BPI voted 63% in favour, but a two-thirds majority would have been required, which was not achieved. The first personal consequence was that the Chairman of the BPI, Dr. Hans-Georg Feldmeier, resigned with immediate effect. So much for the facts.

Med-X-Press is a member of both associations and therefore also entitled to vote. I was at the BPI meeting and Natascha de Raad represented us at the BAH. We both voted in favor of the merger!  At the BPI, this was done by secret ballot, which is of course legitimate, but I already suspected a hidden indication that the project might fail. Instead of an open discussion in advance, the plan was allowed to collapse with my eyes wide open. I had a positive opinion of the merger from the outset and I can also make this statement openly in a vote. When the vote took place after an hour of debate and the result was later announced, I was speechless - there was dead silence in the entire hall. The choice of words fits very well, because a promising project was laid to rest.  In the preceding debate, the speeches on the topic included some critical points, but ultimately with a positive vote. Nobody stood up and said: "I'm voting against it because...." Open, transparent communication looks different. 

No constructive discussion 

This is one of two points I would like to emphasize: I don't think this culture of discussion is appropriate for an association. As a delegate, I felt fully informed. There were many opportunities to intervene in the ongoing preparation process, to express my opinion or to make suggestions that could have been incorporated into the results. I would like to thank all the employees and representatives of both organizations for their time-consuming preparations for the merger. An association is not an end in itself and one of the most important tasks is to proactively represent industry-relevant positions in politics and in public. Even politicians say that the pharmaceutical industry does not always succeed in this. But an association can only ever be as good as its members. This means that impulses must come from the companies, companies must also deliver and actively participate in developments. A missed opportunity. 

No common voice 

Just like the failure of the merger as a whole, and this is my second point: all stakeholders in the healthcare sector are aware of the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry and the entire environment. Especially in the current times of crisis, it would be all the more important to speak with (almost) one voice, regionally, throughout Germany and in Europe. The opportunity to launch a powerful association of the pharmaceutical industry, representing around 90% of the companies active in Germany, was missed without necessity - and the collateral damage is not yet foreseeable.

The joint declaration on further cross-association cooperation may be sincere, but it is still a pity, dear BPI! 

What is your opinion on the failure of the project? Let's talk about it! Write to me at:blog@med-x-press.de