Brussels – Generic and biosimilar medicines represent an essential opportunity to optimize the efficiency of healthcare systems in Italy, according to an article published this week in the Journal of Generic Medicines, Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Use and Expenditure: A Report from the National Observatory on the Use of Medicines (OsMed) of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA).
The article signed by Alessandro Monaco from AIFA highlights the opportunity for generic and biosimilar medicines to enable access and meet the growing demand of healthcare systems in terms of the effectiveness of therapies and to address the sustainability of healthcare budgets. AIFA also underlines the importance of generic and biosimilar competition for the overall sustainability of healthcare systems.
Assogenerici Director General, Michele Uda, welcomed the AIFA publication: “Today when we measure the practical impact of innovation on pharmaceutical expenditure, with antivirals for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, it seems evident that biosimilars can not only contain public pharmaceutical spending, but directly impact on the access to gold standard therapies and allow, at the same time, the use of the latest generation therapies, thanks to the release of the necessary resources. But it is clear, as stated by the AIFA, this requires first of all a work of general acculturation, now urgently needed, given the imminent arrival of other expensive treatments. We hope that the important messages that the AIFA addressed to the scientific community and healthcare decision makers are taken into due consideration”.
EGA Director General, Adrian van den Hoven, commented that “AIFA’s article confirms the efforts by generic and biosimilar manufacturers to invest heavily to bring better access for patients and more sustainability to pharmaceutical markets in Italy. For example, thanks to biosimilar filgrastim, 44% more cancer patients gained access to this life saving treatment in the EU5 countries ”.
About the EGA (European Generic and Biosimilar medicines Association)
The EGA represents the European generic, biosimilar and value-added medicines industries, which provide high-quality cost-competitive medicines to millions of European patients. Companies represented within the EGA provide over 160,000 skilled, high value direct jobs in Europe. Without generic medicines, payers in Europe would have had to pay €100 billion more in 2014. Generic medicines account for 56% of all dispensed medicines but for only 22% of the pharmaceutical expenditure in Europe. The European generic and biosimilar medicines industries’ vision is to provide sustainable access to high quality medicines for all European patients, based on 5 important pillars: patients, quality, value, sustainability and partnership. For more information please follow EGA at www.egagenerics.com and on Twitter @egagenerics and @ebgbiosimilars.
EGA Communications: Doris Casares dcasares@egagenerics.com
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About Assogenerici (Italian Generic and Biosimilar medicines Association)
Assogenerici is the official representative body of the Italian generic and biosimilar pharmaceutical industry. Formed in 1993, Assogenerici represents over 60 pharmaceutical companies and their subsidiaries. Companies represented within Assogenerici provide over 5,000 direct jobs in Italy. Cost-effective generic medicines save Italian patients and healthcare systems over €400 million each year, thus helping to ensure patient access to essential medicines and providing urgently needed budget headroom for new and innovative treatments. Assogenerici plays an important consultative role in Italian healthcare policy-making. Assogenerici and its members work with the Italian government and the EU institutions to develop affordable solutions for pharmaceutical care and to increase Italy’s competitive strength in the global pharmaceutical medicines market.
ASSOGENERICI Communications: Massimo Cherubini m.cherubini@vrelations.it