Tax on pharmaceutical companies that delay the arrival of generic medicines

Article 29 of the 2026 Social Security Financing Act creates Article L. 138-10-1 of the Social Security Code: a tax applies to companies marketing a medicine when keeping its exclusivity unjustifiably delays the arrival of a generic more than one year after the patent or supplementary protection certificate expires. This covers patents on forms, doses, combinations or processes with no improvement in medical benefit, and clearly delaying legal or administrative action. The rate is 3% of pre-tax turnover in France on the product, raised to 5% for a repeat offence within five years. The revenue goes to the National Health Insurance Fund.