Research by Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe has found that 46% of generic medicines listed on the EU Critical List of Medicines are supplied by a single provider.
However, this number increases to 83% when looking at suppliers with more than 60% of the market share.
These figures, according to Teva, pose as a significant risk to the critical medicine supply chain within Europe.
Diversifying the supply
Many generic medicines are of high importance to public health, and healthcare systems must be able to meet the needs of their patients.
To achieve this, Teva Pharmaceuticals believes that there must be a diversified supply of critical generic medicines from multiple manufacturers.
The company's research has highlighted that medicines in the cardiology, oncology, antibiotic and mental health categories are not coming from a range of sources, which could have profound implications on supply chain resilience and consistency.
Notably, the average price of generic medications has also fallen by just shy of 8%. This, paired with the impacts of enhanced regulatory and environmental requirements, has forced many generic suppliers to withdraw medicines from the market and limit manufacturing capacity investments.
To overcome this issue, Teva Pharmaceuticals recommends recommends the following changes:
- Developing the European Solidarity Mechanism at full scale to allow the reallocation of existing market stocks to better address national shortages
- Safeguard the economic viability and value of critical generic medicines through the use of multiwinner, multicriteria procurement schemes that move away from prioritising the lowst cost bids to recognise the most valuable purchasing offer for the European healthcare system and economy
- Bolster European critical medicines manufacturing capabilities via funding schemes
Michal Nitka, Senior VP, Generics Head Europe & OTC Global Head at Teva, says: “Patients depend on reliable access to affordable, high-quality treatments, but the ongoing consolidation of suppliers and withdrawal of critical medicines threatens this access,"
"Addressing the pressures on generic medicine manufacturers is essential to protecting patient care and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Europe’s healthcare systems. For critical generic medicines it is even more important that a reliable, diversified supply network is in place.”