Generic and biosimilar medicines significantly lower healthcare treatment costs and are essential for enabling competition and vastly improved access to medicines. The stated aim of the EU pharmaceutical and IP legislative reform is to encourage the immediate launch of generic and biosimilar medicines once IP protections expire. The 2023 Medicines for Europe Legal Affairs Conference debated these much-needed reforms for access to medicines.
Affordable generic medicines available on the market just 10 years ago are disappearing and supply is too consolidated, according to new data shared today. This rapid decline and consolidation, higher in certain therapy areas such as cancer care and antibiotics, risks creating more shortages and threatens vital access for patients.
The recently published EU pharmaceutical revision aims to improve medicines affordability, accessibility, and availability in Europe. The secure supply of essential medicines is the foundation to achieve these goals.
Recent shortages of essential antibiotics in Europe have renewed the urgency to reform the pricing and industrial infrastructure for these essential medicines. The off-patent sector manufactures and supplies most antibiotics in Europe needed to control bacterial infections. Pricing policies for these antibiotics must urgently be reviewed so that they remain viable to produce and supply.
The purpose of Medicines for Europe members is to improve access to medicines and provide a better availability and supply security for European patients. However, the current situation is challenging our ability to fulfil this objective.