Exclusive OeGV roundtable on the supply of pharmaceuticals and the Austrian production site at Sandoz in Tyrol
In Austria, politicians support the maintenance of production facilities, but current market conditions and rigid price regulations threaten these efforts. A flexible and competitive pricing policy that takes into account changing production costs, particularly for essential medicines, is essential for long-term security of supply
Wolfgang Andiel, President of the Austrian Generics Association
Kundl (OTS) – The Austrian Generics Association (OeGV) organized a high-profile roundtable at Sandoz in Kundl, Tyrol on Friday, April 12th. Experts from the pharmaceutical industry as well as representatives from the fields of politics, business and health came together and discussed the important role of generics for a safe basic supply of medicines and current regulatory measures to avoid supply bottlenecks under the motto “Made in Europe”. and challenges as well as possible strategies to strengthen pharmaceutical production in Europe. Günter Waxenecker, head of the AGES medical market supervision division, gave an overview of strategies and measures for managing delivery bottlenecks at the Austrian and European level. Stephanie Jedner, Site Head Kundl at Sandoz, spoke about the challenges and opportunities of Austria as a pharmaceutical location and highlighted local production and its importance for domestic supply security. Wolfgang Andiel, President of the Austrian Generics Association and Lead Public Affairs at Sandoz, discussed current challenges in the generics industry and possible ways to strengthen competitiveness and moderated the discussion.
Afterwards, host Sandoz invited people to an exclusive production tour of the fermentation. This process is the starting point for penicillin production in Kundl. As the global market leader, Sandoz has the only remaining penicillin plant in Europe, which covers all production steps from the active ingredient to the finished dosage form. It was only in March that the company opened a new facility for the formulation and bottling of penicillins in Kundl. This expansion step represents an investment of 50 million euros and will now enable the production of a total of around 240 million packs per year.
A challenging environment
The ongoing challenges related to drug shortages are compounded by factors such as strong pricing pressure on the generics industry and the dependence of active ingredient production on Asia. In 2000, 59 percent of the active ingredients came from Europe. Today there are only about a third. However, there is still a strong generics industry in Austria. The production of domestic generics companies stimulates overall economic sales of 3.79 billion euros. In total, generics companies in Austria secure 16,642 jobs and create value added of EUR 1.71 billion for the economy as a whole. Almost 107 million medicine packs sold in Austria are generics. Europe is the second largest pharmaceutical market in the world and supports 800,000 jobs.
Ways to strengthen security of supply & securing locations
Ensuring security of supply with medicines, especially those from the off-patent segment, which make up over 90% of the basic supply and whose costs are already almost half below the prescription fee, requires sustained investments in development and production. It is essential that pricing policy supports this sustainability and does not create further restrictive obstacles.
„In Austria, politicians support the maintenance of production facilities, but current market conditions and rigid price regulations threaten these efforts. A flexible and competitive pricing policy that takes into account changing production costs, particularly for essential medicines, is essential for long-term security of supply
“, says Wolfgang Andiel, President of the OeGV. Without framework conditions that enable reasonable prices, it will not be possible to keep production here.
Regulatory measures such as stockpiling obligations must be coordinated at European level in order to reduce the risk of supply disruptions. Otherwise, products would be diverted to countries with such obligations and would no longer be immediately available to supply people.
About the Austrian Generics Association
We are the Austrian Generics Association, an association of 11 generics producers who are committed to providing Austrian patients with optimal care with high-quality, inexpensive medicines. The goal of our association is, on the one hand, to inform the public about the advantages of generics and, on the other hand, to help shape current health policy debates. Our members are GL Pharma GmbH, Genericon Pharma Gesellschaft mbH, Bluefish Pharma, Aristo Pharma Österreich GmbH, interpharm ProduktionsgmbH, ratiopharm Arzneimittel VertriebsGmbH, Dermapharm GmbH, S.MED GmbH, Stada GmbH and Sandoz GmbH.
Questions & Contact:
For the Austrian Generics Association
Ute Stocker
ute.stocker@gaisberg.eu
+43 664 88446426