The Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board, PPB (Lääkkeiden hintalautakunta), approves the wholesaler’s price. The ‘reasonable wholesale price’ that can be acceptable as the basis for reimbursement of a medicinal product, a clinical nutritional preparation or basic ointment, as well as reimbursement status of a medicinal product is confirmed by the PPB. Prices are for a fixed period of three or five years. Since 1998, applicants must show the PPB some health economic data to obtain reimbursement. New products must spend two years at the basic reimbursement rate category before they can achieve the higher levels of reimbursement in the Lower Special and Higher Special Categories. A new expert group has been established within the PPB to give opinions on Special Reimbursement Status. The European Court of Justice recently ruled that the pricing and reimbursement system is too slow and not transparent enough.

In 2003, new rules enforced generic substitution which affects almost half of prescription medicines and have fundamentally changed the market.

Pharmacy margins are set by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH, Sosiaali-ja terveysministeriö) and calculated using a system of regressive price bands. Pharmacies are also paid a fee of €0.42 for any drugs dispensed. Pharmacies in Finland pay a special tax to the State, known as the Pharmacy Fee, calculated from the pharmacy’s turnover. This is a unique system and not in use in any other EU country.