23 January 2026
Executive Summary
Novartis has issued a call for structural reform in global healthcare policy, warning that rising trade fragmentation and short-term cost containment measures risk weakening innovation, supply-chain resilience, and patient access. The company is urging policymakers to move beyond reactive pricing and trade interventions toward long-term structural reforms that sustain medical innovation while improving affordability and accessibility across markets.
Trade Fragmentation Emerges as a Systemic Risk
Novartis highlighted increasing trade fragmentation—driven by tariffs, regulatory divergence, and geopolitical tensions—as a growing threat to global medicine supply. According to the company, fragmented trade frameworks introduce:
- Higher production and distribution costs
- Greater supply-chain volatility
- Delays in patient access to innovative therapies
These pressures, Novartis argues, cannot be sustainably addressed through short-term price controls alone.
Beyond Cost Containment: A Structural Perspective
While healthcare systems globally face legitimate budget pressures, Novartis cautioned that narrow cost-containment strategies may undermine the very innovation needed to improve outcomes and reduce long-term system costs.
The company advocates for reforms that:
- Encourage predictable and innovation-friendly pricing frameworks
- Support efficient, resilient global supply chains
- Incentivize long-term investment in R&D and manufacturing infrastructure
Such reforms, Novartis suggests, would better balance affordability with sustained therapeutic advancement.
Innovation and Access Are Interdependent
Novartis emphasized that innovation and access should not be viewed as competing priorities. Structural reforms—spanning trade policy, reimbursement models, and regulatory alignment—can enable both, particularly as healthcare systems confront aging populations and rising chronic disease burdens.
Industry Implications: A Call Echoing Across Biopharma
Novartis’ position reflects growing concern across the biopharma sector that policy fragmentation and ad-hoc pricing measures may erode long-term industry capacity to deliver breakthrough medicines.
As more companies localize manufacturing and reconfigure supply chains, the industry is increasingly seeking policy coherence to match these investments.
Outlook: Redefining the Policy–Innovation Contract
Novartis’ call reframes the healthcare debate from cost control to system design. The central question for policymakers now is not only how to manage today’s budgets, but how to build healthcare systems capable of delivering tomorrow’s cures.
The strategic challenge ahead:
Can global healthcare policy evolve from short-term savings to long-term value creation?
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