Buy for 3 euros, 4 and even more to sell at 5, 7 or even 10. The history of antigen tests in Spain during the last month has been marked by many edges that have conditioned the sale of a first-class health product need in times of pandemic.
The gross margin that pharmacies have had in recent weeks has been highly variable (even today it is) and depends on several factors. But in general terms, what this newspaper of pharmaceutical sources has been able to corroborate is that it moves in a range of 25% and 50%, although these percentages have also been exceeded in some cases. In other words, a test that the pharmacy has bought for 4 euros from a manufacturer can have a final price of about 6 euros.
Today the situation is better. Many pharmacies can buy this product from their distributor for around 3 euros in a stock situation and a price that is considered “every day more normal”, says one of the main companies in the country. But until a few days ago this was not the case due to the shortage of the product. In fact, the pharmaceutical company Cinfa was the first to sound the alarm with the shortage it suffered at the end of December and now confirms to this medium that “the situation has returned to normal.”
. One of them is availability in the supply chain, but so is the number of tests that are purchased at one time, explain pharmaceutical sources. That is why, depending on the establishment, you can still find differences in the final price. All this without forgetting that China continues to be the main source of these tests, with the edges that derive from it: from the cost of transport to fluctuations in the price of the device.
The hand of the pharmacist also influences, since it is an over-the-counter product, that is, the apothecary can set the price he wants, “although the competition tends to match it,” explains Luis de Palacio, president of the FEFE employers’ association.
It is not the only reflection that this leader contributes, who affirms that in his establishment the average gross margin has been around 40%. He also delves into a crusade against his guild. “We are always to blame, either because we don’t have them or because they are expensive, but we haven’t made a profit with this. However, absolutely nothing is said about PCR, which costs 100 euros in this country,” he says. In addition, he adds that the controversy surrounding the tests is “a smokescreen to divert attention from other prices, such as electricity, which has indeed skyrocketed.”
There are data that confirm this thesis. They are provided by the consulting firm Iqvia and they explain the evolution of both the sale and the prices of antigen tests. In the last week of December, the considered peak of shortages, the average price of antigen kits was 7.03 euros. The data is the highest for December and represents an increase of 20% compared to the beginning of that month. However, it is also a cheaper price than the one paid in July, August (8.7 and 7.7 euros, respectively) and similar to that of September (7.01 euros). Moreover, in the week of the Puente de la Constitución, the lowest average price in the series was reached, according to data from Iqvia.
The explanations are various. On the one hand, in July and August the sale of antigen tests in pharmacies had just been allowed and there were few distributors. Over time, this circumstance changed, causing a drop in prices. The other reason is related to perception. Why is there now a focused public opinion on the price and there was not in the summer? The answer would be in the assistance pressure in health centers caused by omicron. In July and August, these tests were an additional tool, but the vast majority of those infected could go to the health center to be tested. These days, self-diagnosis tests have become for many people the only way to find out if they were infected, with the aggravation of Christmas dates.
Maximum price of 2.94 euros
The Interministerial Commission on Drug Prices (CIMP) has unanimously agreed that the maximum sale price of covid-19 self-diagnostic antigen tests in pharmacies will be 2.94 euros starting this Saturday.
The other debate has been opened by the National Commission for Markets and Competition, which would have recommended to the Government to remove the monopoly on the sale of these tests to pharmacies and open it to large stores, as is the case in other European countries, according to El Mundo. .
, below what the Ministry has found. However, the department of Carolina Darias does not seem to be in favor of this consideration by the CNMC. Among other reasons, they consider that a medical device must be sold by a knowledgeable professional, in addition to the fact that the pharmacy is empowered to communicate a positive.
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