A new study has found that 7 in 10 European patients want to know where their prescription drugs are manufactured because the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the growing concentration of essential medicine production overseas, according to the Business wire.
More than 80% of patients want their government to support pharmaceutical manufacturing investments to avoid over-dependencies on countries outside of Europe.
The study findings suggest rebalancing the pharmaceutical value chain to make sure every region around the world has reliable access to vital medicines.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted some issues with global supply chains caused by the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) being clustered in Asia.
Richard Daniell, Executive Vice President, Teva Pharmaceuticals, said, The jolt of the pandemic acts as a wake-up call that the growing imbalance of the global pharmaceutical value chain cannot continue.”
“Teva supports 200 million patients every day, keeping Europe’s medicine cabinet stocked, as one of the largest of suppliers to European healthcare systems,” he added. “Today we make 95% of Teva medicines in Europe, supported by our global supply line. And we are investing close to a billion euros in manufacturing facilities across Europe. What’s enlightening about this research is that patients are waking up to these issues and demanding change.”
“The race to the lowest-price generic has to stop and Europe’s rather inflexible and old-fashioned regulatory regime should be modernized to keep Europe in the race to attract pharmaceutical investments to produce critical APIs and generic medicines,” Daniell continued.
“With the needs of patients at its heart, a new equilibrium also stands to improve Europe’s resilience as well as delivering a significant economic contribution to the region,” he explained. “There is an opportunity to seize this watershed moment and build a better ecosystem in which a stronger pharmaceutical manufacturing presence in Europe can complement the rest of the global supply chain.”
More than 70% of people think the pharmaceutical industry is strategically important for Europe as we move out of the pandemic because it can ensure stability and reliability of medical supplies, according to Business Wire.
And over 60% think medicine manufacturing in the region is important to protect European healthcare systems, while around 59% see it as crucial to secure Europe’s autonomy and sovereignty over critical drugs, per the news outlet. The story appeared in Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, which is the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
