Pfizer CEO Pulls Out of Germany Investment Summit, Joins Lilly and Boehringer in Rebuke of Berlin Drug Pricing Plan

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has become the latest major pharmaceutical executive to escalate pressure on the German government over its proposed healthcare reform plan, withdrawing from an "Invest in Germany Summit" planned for this fall while warning Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the company is reconsidering its German investments.

On June 9, Bourla sent a letter directly to Merz warning that the company is "reviewing our external engagements as well as the timing, scope, and future prioritization of certain planned investments in Germany." Reuters obtained and reported on the letter June 10. German business newspaper Handelsblatt was first to report its existence.

Bourla's concern is Germany's proposed healthcare reform plan, unveiled in April as a draft bill. The legislation aims to save 16.3 billion euros ($19.08 billion) in 2027 by cutting spending across the statutory health insurance system. Drug-specific cuts are targeted to generate 1.9 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in savings next year, with drugmakers required to pay higher markdowns on list prices to German health insurers.

The letter did not specify which Pfizer investments are at risk.

The Industry Pullback Is Concrete

Pfizer's warning followed moves by two other major drugmakers. Eli Lilly said it would halve its planned 2.3 billion euro ($2.7 billion) investment in Germany, according to Handelsblatt. Boehringer Ingelheim, a German company, scrapped 900 million euros ($1 billion) in domestic spending, citing "growing economic uncertainty and lack of investment predictability in the pharmaceutical sector in Germany," according to a company spokesperson statement cited by Fierce Pharma.

Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan had already flagged the problem at a late-April conference call, telling reporters that Germany's policies "send the wrong signal to a high innovation industry like ours, where we see the U.S. and China actively investing in the biotech ecosystem to make it highly competitive."

Bourla's withdrawal from an "Invest in Germany Summit" planned for this fall — reported by Handelsblatt on June 10 and confirmed by Fierce Pharma — adds a symbolic dimension to what had been a paper dispute. He is no longer willing to appear at a forum promoting German investment while his company is reconsidering exactly that.

The Broader Squeeze: U.S. MFN Pricing Meets European Austerity

This is not simply a Germany story. According to Reuters, the conflict stems partly from the ripple effects of President Trump's "most-favored-nation" drug pricing push, which ties U.S. prescription drug prices to the lower prices paid in other developed countries. Pfizer and Lilly are among 17 major drugmakers that have reached agreements with the White House to bring U.S. prices in line with international benchmarks in exchange for tariff exemptions, Reuters reported.

That deal creates a perverse incentive problem for European governments. If they cut drug prices at home, they are effectively helping lower U.S. drug prices under the MFN framework, removing the competitive pricing advantage European nations previously held. Pharma companies argue they can no longer subsidize European austerity and U.S. pricing pressure simultaneously.

Five European countries — Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Ireland, collectively the Beneluxa Initiative — responded on June 10 with a joint statement calling for a "unified approach" to pharmaceutical policy rather than fragmented national responses. The group warned that "turbulent geopolitical times" require coordination to protect both patient access and European pharmaceutical innovation, according to Fierce Pharma.

Berlin Has Not Responded

On April 22, Bourla and more than 30 other pharmaceutical CEOs sent Chancellor Merz a letter requesting an "urgent face-to-face or virtual meeting" within days. Multiple industry sources told Reuters that Merz did not respond. The German government did not reply to Reuters' request for comment on the June 9 letter either.

Politico reported on June 11 that U.S. government representatives have been holding "secret talks" with German officials in Berlin on drug prices, with three people familiar with the discussions confirming the meetings. The U.S. is reportedly pushing Germany toward a bilateral drug pricing deal similar to the one struck with the United Kingdom.

The Case for Germany's Position

Germany's statutory health insurance system is under genuine fiscal stress, and pharmaceutical companies have long benefited from Germany's historically fast drug reimbursement timelines, which make it one of the first European markets for new medicines. The reform plan is an attempt to contain costs that, left unchecked, would fall on German workers and employers through higher insurance premiums. Critics of the pharma industry's pushback note that threatening to withhold investment is a familiar negotiating tactic, not necessarily a preview of actual disinvestment.

Boehringer Ingelheim's 900 million euro cut is not a threat from a foreign company. It is a German firm canceling domestic spending in its home market, a move harder to dismiss as posturing.

What Bourla Said About America

Separately, as part of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream's series tied to the U.S. 250th anniversary, the NY Post published remarks from Bourla describing his decision to become an American citizen after immigrating from Greece. "Here, the opportunities are enormous," Bourla said, contrasting U.S. social mobility with European class rigidity. He described moving through nine cities across five countries before settling in the United States.

The remarks are noteworthy in context: the CEO simultaneously praising U.S. openness to immigrants and investment while publicly warning European governments that the rules of the old pharma-Europe relationship no longer hold.

The unresolved question is whether Germany will respond to the industry pressure or hold its reform plan intact. Chancellor Merz has not publicly acknowledged either of Bourla's letters, and the draft legislation has not been withdrawn.