European group demands reform of generics procurement policies

Reform of the procurement policies applied to generic medicines is needed to ensure greater security of supply for patients and health systems, according to Medicines for Europe.

The trade group - which represents the generic, biosimilar and value-added medicines industries across Europe - has a newly-published position paper exploring how the current design of procurement rules in European Union (EU) member states, often aimed exclusively at reducing costs, has led to the consolidation of supply and increased risks for supply security.

"Our position paper outlines key recommendations for future reform, both in the way we design tenders and select the best bidders"To address this issue, the paper recommends incorporating security of supply as an objective in tender design and introducing pro-competitive Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criteria to incentivize manufacturers to invest in more robust supply chains.