30 April 2021, Christoph Stoller will speak at 3A CONFERENCE - Availability, Accessibility, Affordability of Medicines and Medical Devices [1], organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union at 11.30AM CET.

When I took over the Presidency of Medicines for Europe in 2019, I made sustainable and equitable access to medicines a priority for our sector. I set out to identify key recommendations to protect access to affordable medicines, while supporting a vibrant and strategic medicines manufacturing base in Europe.

As COVID-19 changed our perspectives on EU health policy, these issues are gaining traction and are heavily featured in the in the pharmaceutical strategy. 

Off-patent medicines deliver equitable access to medicines. Generic medicines have doubled access for patients with diabetes and cardiac conditions and represent 70-90% of ICU medicines.  Biosimilar medicines are drastically increasing access to biological therapies for cancer and auto-immune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis and value added medicines are increasing patients’ quality of life for chronic diseases and we have seen this in action, as medicine repurposing has been a cornerstone in the response to COVID-19.

COVID19 has been a wakeup call and in my view has demonstrated three key priorities which still require action:

• Off-patent medicines must be clearly recognised in EU pharma strategy’s implementation à Off-patent medicines deliver equitable access to medicines. Barriers to access on day-1 of generic and biosimilar medicines competition should be removed. Generic and biosimilar medicines uptake should be promoted.
• Resilient and robust supply chain should be fostered à Smart and sustainable market reforms (also via procurement reforms to introduce multi winner, multi criteria models) should be implemented. These drive value for healthcare systems and patients rather than a race to the bottom by focusing on cost only, a factor in driving manufacturing outside Europe. Regulatory optimisation is needed including embracing digital solutions and processes (such as variations, telematics and eLeaflet).
• Embrace digital and at-home solutions for patients à Value added medicines have come to the fore during COVID-19. We must find a way to accelerate this and benefit from the lessons we’ve learned to date, including to reflect on the impact that COVID-19 has on non-COVID-19 patients.

- Christoph Stoller

President, Medicines for Europe (Teva)