Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, the world's biggest producer of insulin, has refused to comply with the Greek government's order to pharmaceutical companies to cut prices by a quarter, a company spokesman said. Drug prices are in the firing line as European governments tackle runaway budget deficits and Greece has launched the steepest price cuts, which has drugmakers worried that they could be forced into similar cuts in other markets.

"A 25% price cut does not allow us to run a sustainable business in Greece, and this is what we have told the government," Novo Nordisk spokesman Mike Rulis said in an email statement. A 25% reduction would bring prices in Greece "way below what other European countries are paying," Rulis added. "And as prices in Greece are used as reference price by other countries both inside and outside Europe, this reduction in Greece would trigger similar reductions in these countries, which would have serious financial consequences," he said.

The company has informed the Greek government that it will not lower prices of its most recent insulin products, so-called modern insulins or insulin analogues, and insulin products for use with pen systems, Rulis said.

"As a result, wholesalers have stopped ordering these products as they would have to sell them at a loss," he said.

To ensure that people with diabetes are not without access to insulin treatment, Novo Nordisk will continue supplying human insulin products in 10 milliliter vials at the reduced prices set by the Greek government, Rulis said. Glucagon, a hormone with the opposite effect of insulin, of which Novo Nordisk is the only supplier in Greece, will be made available free of charge, he said.