Drug price list updated again – cost of some drugs increases, others remain the same

The process of leveling the price of medicines in Kosovo continues to face challenges, causing a shortage of medicines on the market.

The law on the prices of medicinal products, which came into force in February, is being partially implemented, partly due to the continuous updating of the official price list.

The Ministry of Health has once again updated the official price list of medicinal products, although this was last done on March 24.

Read too One month after entry into force, the Ministry of Health updates the official list of drug prices

The decision of the Ministry of Health taken on April 4, 2025 states that "The official list of prices of medicinal products declared by Marketing Authorization Holders in Kosovo or authorized representatives of the Marketing Authorization Holder is updated, approved by the Minister's Decision no. 05-10072, dated 23.12.2024 and corrected by the Minister's Decision no. 05-10256, dated 31.12.2024, according to the proposal no. pot. 05-2324, dated 28.03.2025 of the Commission for Determining the Prices of Medicinal Products".

The website further notes that the validity period of medicinal product prices set out in the Official List updated on 24.03.2025 has been corrected.

"Wholesale and retail distributors are obliged to adhere to the prices set out in the List which is part of this decision. The AKPPM is obliged to take all actions to implement this decision," states the MoH decision dated April 4.

The List updated on April 4th includes 3076 medicinal products, which compared to the list updated on March 24th, 64 more products have been added.

Accordingly, some of the medicinal products have been made cheaper, some have become more expensive, and some have not had their prices changed at all when compared to the prices that were updated in March.

Example: Paracetamol 120mg/5ml, which is produced by Alkaloid in Skopje, in the list of March 24, the wholesale price was 1.08, the margin was 0.27, the price with margin was 1.36, and the retail price was 1.46 euros. Meanwhile, in the list recently updated on April 4, its price is 1.61 wholesale, the margin is 0.40, the price with margin is 2.01 and the retail price is 2.17 euros.

Also, Diazepam 10mg/2ml (10 ampoules), which is an injection solution, which is also a product of Alkaloid, with the list updated on April 4, has experienced a price increase.

In the March 24 list, its wholesale price was 1.05, the profit margin was 0.26 and the price with margin was 1.31, while the retail price was 1.42 euros.

In the price list updated on April 4, the price of Diazepam (10 ampoules) is 1.81 euros wholesale, the margin is 0.45, the price with margin is 2.26, while the retail price is 2.44 euros.

Meanwhile, the price has not changed for 500mg Vitamin C. In the price list updated on March 24, this product, which is produced by Replek Pharm in Skopje, had a wholesale price of 8.45, a margin of 2.11, a price with a margin of 10.56 and a retail price of 11.41.

The same price appears on the list updated on April 4.

The official price list update - version 1.2 can be found here. here.

Regarding the updating of the lists, the Pharmaceutical Distributors Association had warned the Telegraph a week ago of the possibility of a shortage of medicines.

The SHDPFMK emphasized that if the methodology of the average price from the reference countries and the import prices of 2025 are taken into account, then it believes that the situation can be stabilized, otherwise the Association added that throughout the year we could face shortages of products which, due to unfavorable prices, will not be able to be imported and traded.

Read too Price list update, Pharmaceutical Distributors Association warns of possible drug shortages

The determination of drug prices is based on the Law on the Price of Medicinal Products, which provides that the basis for determining the price is the methodology of external reference prices, of countries such as Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and the country of origin of the product.

The official price list of medicinal products, approved by Decision No. 208/XII/2024 of the Minister of Health, entered into force on 01.02.2025, while the Law on the Price of Medicinal Products No. 08/L-220 entered into force in August 2023. /Telegraph/