GOTHENBURG—The Swedish government is going to change, effective immediately, the board of the state-owned National Corporation of Swedish Pharmacies (Apoteket AB). The decision was made due to the board’s unwillingness to adopt new directives from the government for the re-regulation of the Swedish pharmaceutical market.
On April 29, the Swedish Parliament voted in favor of a bill to re-regulate the Swedish pharmacy market, which has been monopolized by the state-owned Apoteket AB. As a result of the vote, the state monopoly of the pharmacy market ceased on July 1.
Prior to the vote, every prescription and non-prescription drug must be sold through one of Apoteket AB’s stores.
The aim of re-regulation of the Swedish pharmacy market and the sale of pharmaceuticals is to achieve efficiency gains, better accessibility for consumers, price pressure, and safe and appropriate use of medicinal products.
Another company, Apoteket Omstrukturering AB (OAB), was established as a parent company that will manage and supervise the necessary processes to restructure Apoteket AB ahead of the re-regulation of the market. OAB will be responsible for the selling of the 616 pharmacies (65 percent of the 946 pharmacies in Sweden) and will be run by new operators and small businesses.
The Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has authority over the newly established parent company OAB.
The Swedish government handed over the new owner directives on Sept. 18 to the board of Apoteket AB. The aim was to prevent Apoteket AB from obtaining strategic advantages that could obstruct freedom of competition for the new owners, reported the Swedish television station, SVT.
The disputed directives have to do with, among other things, the right to make agreements and business deals.
The board of the state-owned Apoteket AB said the directives are unfair.
“I think this favors our competitors in a way that is clearly doubtful. This is about detailed governing and a restriction of the future development of the company that we cannot accept,” said Per Båtelson, chairman of the board of Apoteket AB, to SVT.
According to the minister of Social Affairs, Göran Hägglund, there have been different understandings between the boards of the newly constructed parent company to Apoteket and the state-owned Apoteket AB.
Apoteket AB has, prior to the re-regulation, had the exclusive right to conduct retail trade in medicinal products to consumers. In 2008 Apoteket had net sales of 47.7 billion Swedish kronors (SEK) (US$7 billion) and an operating income of 950 million SEK (US$139.5 million). Growth in net sales compared to 2007 was 5.6 percent.
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