Werner Baumann, CEO of Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer, on Wednesday shared his thoughts on rising drug costs, his company's own drug pricing system and President Donald Trump in an interview with CNBC.
Here are four thoughts from the interview.
1. On rising drug costs.
"If you look at pharmaceutical pricing — as a total share of healthcare funding it actually has not changed since the early 1960s and has been very stable around 10 percent."
2. On Bayer's own drug pricing.
"We price our drugs in line with their innovation potential and in line with the competitive environment," Mr. Baumann told CNBC. He believes Bayer has been "very responsible" with its own drug pricing process, citing the "very stable" pricing of its Kogenate and Kovaltry products, according to the report.
3. On Trump's closed door meeting with pharmaceutical executives.
While Mr. Baumann did not attend the meeting, he said it was an important opportunity for the president to learn about the drug industry.
"I think even more importantly, President Trump could develop a better understanding of the overall healthcare market, the industry and what is driving cost up really."
4. On Bayer's financial performance.
Mr. Baumann said Bayer's pharmaceutical business "continues to do very, very well" and expects the division to maintain strong performance through the end of 2017, according to the report.
The company on Wednesday released a fourth quarter earnings report showing the EBITDA before special items for its pharmaceutical division increased to 5.25 euros ($5.5 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2016, marking an almost 14 percent increase from the same quarter a year prior.
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