Network of European Medicine Authorities to Strengthen Position with Respect to Pharmaceutical Industry

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• The main objectives are cost cuts, more efficient assessment and rapid, extensive availability of new medications
• Service function for national health authorities
• Focus of work to be determined during French presidency

The network of European medicine authorities intends to improve its position with respect to pharmaceutical companies in the future with increased international cooperation. The network was established at several meetings between competent authorities from the 27 EU countries between January and April 2008 during the Slovenian presidency; at another meeting in December during French presidency the priority for the coming years will be determined.

“This network of national authorities, who are responsible for the added value assessment of medications and determination of prices and decision on access to public funds, is of course a deliberate signal to the pharmaceutical industry that it is not dealing with 27 small and medium-sized countries, but that we intend to bundle our strengths more substantially in the future,” says Stanislav Primozic of the Slovenian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (JAZMP), the driving force behind the network’s establishment. Additional options were mentioned in a wide forum of experts at the European Health Forum Gastein, the most important health policy event in the EU taking place from 1 to 4 October in Bad Hofgastein.

As the most important goals of the cooperation Primozic mentioned:
• The best possible availability of medications: in some member countries new medications are still put on the market considerably later than in other countries.
• A better position in negotiations with pharmaceutical companies concerning the prices of medications through coordination of talks, exchange of information, etc.
• More efficient process for assessing the use of new medications: the costly process leads to considerable bureaucratic expense for authorities and is also an essential cost factor for new medications.

How rapidly and to what extent the cooperation of EU pharmaceutical authorities will become effective depends on the commitment of the member states as well as the EU Commission. “We have established a network based solely on volunteerism and which is not to become a central office, but to support the authorities of the member states instead,” says Primozic. “The intensity with which the work is continuing under the current presidency is highly encouraging.”

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