Tag: pharmaceuticals

SPECIAL REPORT / The European healthcare system is struggling to cope with low levels of transparency and trust in the pharmaceutical sector, according to 97% of doctors, industry professionals and policymakers attending a workshop at the Gastein Health Forum yesterday (4 October).

Europe’s debt crisis is hitting health budgets, leading to unpaid bills for pharmaceutical products, warns the head of Europe's pharma industry association, EFPIA, in an interview with EurActiv. According to Richard Bergström, the industry is near breaking point and the issue needs to be discussed at the highest policy making levels.

Brian Ager, Director-General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), is leaving his position after 16 years at the head of the trade association. In an interview with EurActiv, he reflects on his tenure and discusses some of the new legislation and controversies affecting the pharmaceutical industry.

EU antitrust regulators have raided the offices of some pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, suspected of colluding to block the market entry of cheaper generic drugs.

The EU is to strengthen its drug monitoring systems and force high-risk medicines to carry a black symbol on their packaging as part of tough new rules passed by MEPs yesterday (22 September).

New EU rules designed to improve medical information available to patients will fail unless levels of health literacy are improved across Europe, MEPs and health campaigners warn.

A key European Parliament committee has backed new measures against the illegal sale of medicines over the Internet.

New technology designed to combat counterfeit drugs has been successfully trialled by pharmacists in Sweden, as a new EU directive on tackling fake medicines makes its way through the European Parliament.

Patent settlements between pharmaceutical companies are set for European Commission scrutiny over concerns that some of the deals could deny EU consumers broader choice and lower-priced medicines.

Europe's pharmaceutical companies will allow an independent authority to vet information provided to patients under a controversial proposal that would allow industry to communicate directly to consumers.

New data shows that Europe is ahead of the United States in pharmaceutical research productivity, contrary to conventional wisdom, argues Professor Donald W. Light in an article published recently in the journal Health Affairs.

A broad coalition of NGOs is urging EU leaders to take responsibility for pharmaceutical policy out of the European Commission's industry section and hand it to its health and consumer affairs department. The call comes as heads of government meet in Brussels today (18 June) ahead of a reorganisation of the EU executive and the possible implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

A leading public health NGO cautiously welcomed plans to establish a dedicated health committee in the European Parliament, calling on the European Commission to make its health commissioner responsible for pharmaceutical policy too.

The EU executive and European pharmaceutical giants engaged in a high-profile clash in Brussels today (28 November) as the European Commission produced a report on alleged breaches of competition by the industry.

The current global credit crunch could dent invesment in biotech research and seriously delay the discovery of new medicines, a UK scientist warned yesterday at a conference on the future of life sciences. 

The French EU Presidency's health priorities are five-fold: food safety, healthy ageing, cross-border health care, health determinants such as alcohol and tobacco and pharmaceuticals, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot told Parliament.

A joint Commission-pharma industry research initiative to speed up the development of new drugs and cut down development costs began operating on 30 April 2008.

The Commission has raided the offices of a number of top pharmaceutical companies to find out whether anti-competitive practices in the sector have hindered innovation and blocked the entry of cheap generics on the European market.

EU member states adopted an international agreement that will eliminate customs duties on all new pharmaceuticals traded with the US and Switzerland.

The EU high-level pharmaceutical forum still has a long way to go before tabling a consensus on the structural changes needed to improve competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry.

The first meeting of the High Level Pharmaceutical Forum (HLPF) is set to be difficult. In order to control the health costs, the member states are likely to block any change on the topics under discussion: pricing of medicines, the assessment of relative effectiveness of drugs and information for patients, argues MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis in an interview with EurActiv.

A pan-European platform on innovative medicines proposes the creation of an EU Medicines Research Academy to fill in the gaps in education and training in support of medicines development.

An OECD report on biopharmaceuticals innovation recommends national governments to co-ordinate their various policies related to the innovation chain to boost competitiveness and innovation of the biopharma sector.

The Council has adopted new rules for registration of medicines at the European Medicines Agency. A number of current fees will be reduced and time for payment extended.