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Jerko Jakšić
Episode · #469

RITAM POSLA Jerko Jaksic 2

Guest Jerko JakšićHosted by Lidija KiseljakMay 3, 2026
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation

Jerko Jakšić leads Farmas and the Croatian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, a unique position that places him at the intersection of public health, state regulation, and private enterprise. For an industry that literally supplies the essentials of life, one might assume stability, yet Jakšić describes a landscape where the very mechanisms designed to control costs now threaten the continuous supply of medicines. He explains how pharmaceutical companies, unlike almost any other sector, cannot pass on rising production costs to their main customer: the state. The conversation explores the hidden vulnerabilities of a highly regulated market, where efficiency gains are expected, but economic realities are often ignored. Readers will walk away with a clearer understanding of how systemic debt and price controls impact even the most critical of industries.

Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Jerko Jakšić describes the pharmaceutical sector as "the only industry" unable to pass on rising costs to its products. When the state is both your primary customer and your price regulator, cost inflation doesn't translate to price increases; it translates to profit erosion and supply risk.
02
The European association Medicines for Europe issued recommendations this autumn, warning that "drug supply will be threatened" across the EU due to current economic realities. Even essential goods, subject to strict regulation, are not immune to supply chain disruption when the economics of their production become unsustainable.
03
Jakšić states that the current situation, where costs are rising but prices are fixed or even pushed down, is "already unbearable." For a regulated industry, the point of unsustainability isn't marked by declining sales, but by the inability to maintain supply when the cost of production exceeds regulated revenue.
04
Hospitals currently pay their pharmaceutical suppliers 250 to 300 days late, while pharmacies are 100 to 120 days behind. Chronic, multi-year payment delays from state-controlled customers create a shadow financial system where suppliers become de facto lenders, distorting market dynamics and capital allocation.
05
Despite being the most regulated part of the healthcare system, generic and biosimilar drug manufacturers see themselves as "part of the solution for healthcare reform," estimating up to a billion kuna in savings if the system was organized better. In a system burdened by public debt, the segment most constrained by price controls often holds the key to cost savings, if its role as a solution rather than a problem is recognized.
06
The host asks why there's been "resistance to these drugs for years," referring to generics. Even when a solution is demonstrably more cost-effective and equally efficacious, ingrained perceptions or a lack of public understanding can create systemic inertia, hindering its adoption.
07
Croatia has spent the last decade "highly regulating these prices," which Jakšić says "is perfectly fine." Even a well-intentioned and effective system of price regulation can inadvertently create fragility if it doesn't account for the real costs of production and the economic health of its suppliers.
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