Morocco approves drug pricing reform to reduce patient costs and strengthen national pharmaceutical industry

Morocco's Government Council, led by Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, approved a draft decree on July 22, 2026, to amend the existing framework for setting public sale prices of locally manufactured and imported medicines. Presented by Minister of Health and Social Protection Amine Tahraoui, the reform aims to adapt regulations to the evolving national pharmaceutical market and the increased number of beneficiaries of mandatory basic health insurance. The reform has three main objectives: improving citizens' access to medicines through price reductions and lower out-of-pocket costs for insured patients, ensuring the financial sustainability of mandatory health insurance by reducing pharmaceutical expenditures, and strengthening the competitiveness of the national industry and the Kingdom's pharmaceutical sovereignty. Key provisions include adopting the lowest price recorded in reference countries as the basis for setting public sale prices for originator drugs. The project also reduces the markup on imported medicines from 10% to 2.5%, within the limit of customs duties paid. Prices for generic and biosimilar medicines will be determined by a percentage reduction applied to the reference price of the original drug. The text also mandates a revision of prices for medicines already on the market with a public sale price exceeding 300 dirhams, based on the lowest price in reference countries. The frequency of price revisions will be reduced from five to three years, and an au