LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – US pharmaceutical company Pfizer won the Swiss Federal Tribunal’s backing Thursday 4 August for health insurers to cover the cost of Champix, a drug used by some smokers to ease their tobacco addiction. The court agreed that in some cases the addiction is an illness and the cost of the drug should be reimbursed.

Update 14:15  Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Three pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Co. and Bayer AG have been fined CHF5.7 million in total for price fixing, linked to their over-the-counter erectile functioning drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. Bayer Switzerland promptly reacted, saying that it has not participated in price-fixing and has respected Swiss law. According to Dow Jones/CNN Money, the company is considering taking legal action against the decision.

The Swiss competition commissioner levied the fines saying the fixing was done using public price recommendations, which have been illegal in Switzerland since 2000.