Roche Limits Drug Billing Credit for Spanish, Portuguese Clinics

Roche Holding AG (ROG) tightened its bill- collecting policy for hospitals in Spain and Portugal, requiring clinics with the worst arrears to pay down debts before they can get more drugs on credit, and may do the same in Italy. The policy applies to a dozen Spanish hospitals and 23 hospitals in Portugal, about a quarter of Portuguese hospitals, Silvia Dobry, a Roche spokeswoman, said today. In Spain, that means Roche won’t supply drugs to hospitals that are more than 700 days behind on payments, El Pais newspaper reported today.