Industry urges move towards a freer movement of medicines

The President of the association representing
the innovative pharmaceutical industry demands
faster market access for new approved medicines, more
reward for innovation and increased price competition for
non-reimbursed medicines.

Dr Franz Humer, President ot the European Federation
of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA),
has called for more price competition for medicines that
are neither purchased nor reimbursed by the state.
Speaking on the margins of a Kangoroo Group meeting on 5
October, Dr Humer recalled that in line with
recommendation 6 of the so-called G10 medicines’
report, put together to propose measures to improve the
competitive position of the EU’s pharmaceutical
industry, countries should not have the authority to
regulate prices for medicines that are neither purchased
nor reimbursed by the state. Furthermore, Dr Humer told
journalists that access to national markets following the
approval of new medicines may take up to two to three
years in some countries due to pricing and re-imbursement
decisions. 

Chairman of the Kangaroo Group, MEP Karl von Wogau,
has echoed the view of Dr Humer that certain pricing
practices applied by some Member States are a barrier to
the free movement of goods in the internal market under
the EC Treaty. 

Mr von Wogau pointed out that the pharma industry in
the EU accounts for 15 per cent of the whole EU business
R&D expenditure but it is facing a decline in
competitiveness as compared with the US “where the
environment is more attractive for R&D investment and
more supportive of pharmaceutical
innovation”. 

Enlargement would normally be expected to intensify a
phenomenon known as ‘parallel trading’, ie the
purchase of medicines in one country where prices are
lower and re-selling them via traders in other Member
States where the price for the same medicine is higher.
Dr Humer explained, however, that parallel trading in the
enlarged EU is not an immediate danger to industry as
derogations of up to ten years were negotiated in the
accession treaties. 

The new paediatrics proposal appears acceptable to the
research-based pharma industry as it stands, but, Dr
Humer warned that “it should not be negotiated
downwards”. “Patent protection is the most
intelligent way to foster research,” said Dr Humer,
commenting on the proposal to extend patent protection
for medicines suitable for children under certain
conditions. 

Innovation in pharmaceuticals should be viewed as an
opportunity for growth and better health, Dr Humer said.
“Innovative medicines should be rewarded, instead of
being the prime target of cost-containment
policies,” he concluded. 

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