A workshop was organised on 22/10 in Rome by the European Commission (DG Enterprise and Industry) on the role and the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry and its importance with regard to public health and the economy in Europe.
This meeting served as a follow-up to the adoption of the Commission’s Staff Working Document “Pharmaceutical Industry: A Strategic Sector for the European Economy” in June earlier this year.
The objective of the workshop was to bring together various actors and stakeholders from the public and private sector (e.g. pricing and reimbursement authorities of EEA/EU countries and representatives from European associations representing the industry, patients, health professionals, consumers, insurers/payers, hospitals and trade unions) for a first exchange of views on the main present and future challenges of the pharmaceutical industry, its impact on the provision of health treatments and creation of growth in Europe.
Participants in the workshop discussed issues related to demographic change, new and old health threats, investments in pharmaceutical research and development, the European intellectual property regime, constraints in public budgets, policy consistency in relation to the pharmaceutical sector, ethical behaviour and new competitors in the global market.
In particular they dealt with pricing and reimbursement policies, cost efficiency and sustainability of the whole pharmaceutical sector, life science policies, cooperation improving access to innovative treatments, managed entry agreements and the possibility for a European registry on ethics.
The workshop has presented a useful occasion to share views on identifying possible future policy priorities for the pharmaceutical sector under the next Commission. In this perspective, a specific event will be organised in 2015 – as mentioned in the Staff Working Document – bringing together relevant EU and national public and private stakeholders responsible for a wide range of portfolios: pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals, competitiveness, health, research and innovation and possibly others. Such a wide participation is intended to facilitate a more comprehensive approach helping to streamline the future strategic agenda for a sustainable and competitive pharmaceutical sector to improve patients’ access to medicines.
This workshop was organised back to back with the meeting of the Network of Competent Authorities responsible for pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals, hosted by the Italian Presidency on 23–24/10 also in Rome.
