But the pharmaceutical industry argues that any changes should be made cautiously and with clear guidelines for everyone involved. The sector wants safeguards to support companies’ participation and to prevent market monopolies, which it argues could develop if a drugmaker wins a contract for a large volume of medicines across the bloc.
“If there is no potential competition in the way we are implementing these joint procurements for the future, and you are excluding players in the future, that will not be sustainable and that will create future concerns,” Elvira said.
Generic drugs sector also sounds alarm
Most critical medicines are generics, and the generics industry also has warnings for the negotiators. Adrian van den Hoven, director general of the sector lobby group Medicines for Europe, pointed to a few problems with the tool, including poor planning, countries’ lack of commitment to buy jointly procured medicines and different packaging requirements across countries.
Legislators should also ensure that there is no conflict with national procurements, he said.
“We have experience of member states doing both the European procurement, or the joint procurement, and the national procurement at the same time to see which one — we assume — delivers the better price,” he said. “But then that leaves the suppliers on the hook with a commitment to supply for both. And this is really something to avoid.”
The solution? The Commission and countries should consider incentives such as multi-award contracts, a minimum binding commitment from countries to buy, and criteria that go beyond price, to ensure adequate forecasting for companies and to secure a more sustainable supply.