Industry welcomes the European Commission Workshop on the uptake of biosimilar medicines
20.06.16
The European pharmaceutical industry welcomes the workshop organised today by the European Commission Directorate General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Grow) on access to biosimilar medicines in Europe, in relation to the Corporate Responsibility Programme. Patients, doctors, pharmacists, academics, authorities, press and industry will gather at this workshop to share experiences with biosimilar medicines across Europe.
For the pharmaceutical industry to contribute effectively to the health and wellbeing of EU citizens, industry strategies must be in line with societal needs. The European Commission set up the ‘Process on Corporate Responsibility in the Field of Pharmaceuticals’ to facilitate discussions on ethics and transparency, and on non-regulatory conditions for better access to medicines after they have been granted a marketing authorisation.
The expanding numbers and use of biosimilars can support better value for healthcare and the potential for greater access for patients. The three associations thank the European Commission for organising this workshop and standing behind the development of this annual update from IMS on the impact of biosimilar competition.
The new IMS report, entitled: “The Impact of Biosimilar Competition”, highlights key aspects such as price competition and the significant increase in access resulting from the introduction of biosimilar medicines, especially in countries where there has been an unmet medical need, such as in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Poland.
In addition, while at last year’s event, the patient organisations voiced the need for more information on biological medicines – including biosimilars – at the event taking place today, the initial results of a patient-friendly Q&A on biosimilar medicines was presented.