The European Commission moved forward with a proposal to improve the availability of critical medicines in the bloc to ease public procurement and avoid shortages in times of need.
The Critical Medicines Act follows 2020’s Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, which was set up to coordinate the COVID-19 response across the bloc. The pandemic showed Europe’s vulnerability in its pharmaceutical supply chain and, thence, the need for a new strategic approach.
The new proposal “will allow for the Commission and the Member States working together towards reducing the risk of supply disruptions of those medicines and our dependencies on third countries, boosting our resilience in healthcare and supporting our manufacturing capacities,” according to European Commissioner for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera.
As part of the new law, the Commission is ready to support collaborative procurement of critical products. It will push for international partnerships outside the bloc to broaden suppliers and avoid relying on few suppliers.
Overall, the Critical Medicines Act wants to diversify the EU’s supply chains and will try to favour the production of critical medicines within the EU. The Commission intends to incentivise the manufacturing capacity of critical drugs and modernise the current plants with easier funding and faster regulatory support to close the gap.
Commenting on the project, Oliver Varhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, said, “By supporting manufacturing and creating market incentives, this Act will complement our pharmaceutical reform and help build more resilient supply chains for critical medicines in Europe.”
