FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Celesio AG. is seeking to end a discount war among drug distributors in Germany that saw margins all but disappear and is trying to reverse price cuts offered to pharmacies, the company's Deputy Chief Executive, Stefan Meister, told Financial Times Deutschland.
Rival drug distributor Andreae-Noris Zahn AG. (Anzag) is also in talks with pharmacies, pressing for higher prices and fees, an Anzag spokesman told the newspaper.
The price war in the German drug wholesale market has partly been of Celesio's own making because it offered discounts to win back pharmacies that had turned to competitors to retaliate against Celesio's entry into the pharmacy market, the paper said. ludwig.burger@thomsonreuters.com lb/slj COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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