Can we afford to lose the pharmaceutical industry in the EU?

Abstract

Suggests that the population of the EU will still need drugs whether or not the EU continues to have a pharmaceutical industry. Various policies trying to control health service drugs bills have affected the drugs industry: increasingly the effects are adverse. The EU Commission is now taking an increasing interest in health care and pharmaceutical industry policy. It is therefore of some urgency to open the debate up by beginning to signal what the EU stands to lose if it loses the pharmaceutical industry in the EU. Although it is highly improbable that the EU will lose all the present pharmaceutical industry in the EU it is likely that it will lose some of it in the next five years, and it is almost certain that the industry in the EU will continue to yield with respect to industry in North America, the Pacific Basin and Asia.

Brand managers in the pharmaceutical industry: are they any different?

“…As a result of changes in the environment, the removal of trade barriers, changes in the legislation in the European Union and the launch of more global drugs (Chaudhry et al, 1994, Earl-Slater, 1996b1997;1998), national protection of the Greek pharmaceutical industry has altered. The effort to control health service drugs bills in the European Union influences the pharmaceutical sector (Earl-Slater, 1996a) and can affect the way that these products are marketed. These new circumstances make the analysis of the brand manager's role in that industry interesting.…”

An international political economic view of the biotechnology industry

“…The UK, Canada and Australia for example are currently investigating methods of economically evaluating new drugs for their welfare services amongst broader healthcare reforms (IPTS, 1997), whilst the German clinical trials environment is argued to be driving investment out of the country and to the US (Slater, 1996;Slater, 1998). In the US, the Prescription Drug User Free Act (PDUFA) is using revenues to finance drug evaluations and increase the rate and acceptance of new drugs (Wechsler, 1998).…”