In one sentence
Apothekenreform is the everyday term for the 2026 overhaul of German pharmacy law. In legal terms it means the ApoVWG, which has been in force since 2 July 2026 and widened both the services a pharmacy may offer and the rules it operates under.
Apothekenreform is what pharmacy teams and the trade press call the 2026 reform. The statute behind the word is the ApoVWG, in force since 2 July 2026.
The reform pulls in two directions at once. On the revenue side it is modest: the Fixum rose in July and rises again in January, and that increase came from a separate ordinance rather than from the reform itself. On the services side it is substantial: ten pharmazeutische Dienstleistungen are now named in statute, pharmacies may vaccinate with all non-live vaccines, and trained pharmacists may carry out a venöse Blutentnahme.
That combination is the reform's actual message. Dispensing margin is not where the growth is meant to come from. The service catalogue is.
A good deal of what circulates under the word Apothekenreform describes the December 2025 cabinet draft rather than the law that passed. The draft's far-reaching provisions on pharmacies operating without a pharmacist present did not survive into the statute.
This glossary entry is general information about German pharmacy law and practice. It is not legal advice. For binding guidance on your own pharmacy, contact your Landesapothekerkammer.
