Cost of Spain's pharma industry to adapt production lines to medicines verification system

The pharmaceutical industry based in Spain will invest around 200 million euros ($220 million) over the next two years in order to adapt its production lines thus incorporating the technical requirements of the new system for the unitary verification of medicines.

These are the economic estimations of the sector, based on an average cost of 300,000 euros per line, according to an announcement by the Spanish trade group Farmaindustria, noting that this is an initial investment which only looks at the adequacy of the machinery and the start up process.

Unit verification of medicines in Europe is a requirement originating from the European Falsified Medicines Directive and its delegated Regulation. Its aim is to avoid the risk of falsified drugs entering the legitimate supply chain of medicines dispensed in pharmacies, further strengthening for the patient the full guarantee of medicines dispensed in pharmacies. Spain has adapted to this European regulation, even when the current manufacturing, distribution and dispensing system in our country today makes it barely impossible for falsified medicines to enter this legal channel.