View our factsheet on Medicines for Europe’s 5 Pillars
Patient access to medicines significantly increases when generic, biosimilar and value added medicines enter the market, which now represents 80% of healthcare needs, ensuring the highest levels of quality, safety and efficacy is the highest priority for our members. Our industry is fully committed to working with European and national regulators to meet and maintain Europe’s stringent regulatory standards and to promote these standards globally. We can proudly say that millions of European patients today have benefited from better access to gold standard therapies as a result of the use of generic and biosimilar medicines today.
Our industry is also creating economic value by increasing the supply of medicines through a more competitive market, reducing the pressure on public and private healthcare budgets, and generating new employment, manufacturing and investment opportunities. We are making a very significant direct contribution to the European economy through our 400 European manufacturing sites and the more than 190,000 people employed in high-quality technology jobs. Our members are also investing heavily in R&D – up to 17% of turnover – into generic, biosimilar and value added medicines.
Generic medicines, and increasingly biosimilar and value added medicines, are fundamental to the sustainability of healthcare systems: allowing providers to respond to the long-term challenges of an ageing population, increased incidences of chronic diseases, and budgetary constraints compounded by the high cost of new branded medicines.
Thanks to competition from our members patients’ access to high-quality medicines has doubled over the last ten years with no impact on treatment costs – driving efficiencies and reducing avoidable costs for healthcare systems through improved medical adherence and better patient outcomes. Without generic medicines European healthcare providers would have had to pay an additional €100 billion for medicines in 2014.
With our deep expertise and knowledge, we are committed to working in partnership with the healthcare community and policy makers to create better access and better health for all European citizens. Our association is actively engaged in stakeholder and regulatory dialogues – providing objective and accurate information to help improve access to high quality medicines and create a more stable and competitive pharmaceutical markets in Europe.
Generic medicines are now the cornerstone of European healthcare, the biosimilar sector is developing rapidly, and the need for value added medicines is further transforming the industry. These medicines offer an incredible opportunity to further increase the value obtained from healthcare expenditure and safeguard the sustainability of Europe’s healthcare systems for generations to come. Translating this potential into better access and better health is the purpose of Medicines for Europe.