Policy principles on cross-country collaborations on medicines' pricing and access

The noise around cross-country collaborations on access to medicines has been constant. The results? Not so much, according Nathalie Moll, director general of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, in a blog posted on the EFPIA’s website.

The concept seems simple enough but in practice, if cross-country collaborations fail to deliver faster, broader access to patients then it’s energy wasted.

Pharmaceutical companies in Europe are experiencing a new trend of collaboration between countries in areas that had until now been the sole competence of single national authorities.  Initiatives such as BeneluxA-I, the Valletta Declaration group or FINOSE gather a few countries willing to join forces and collaborate on concrete projects, such as health technology assessment (HTA), public procurement, horizon scanning or price negotiation. These cross-border processes have the potential to transform the way medicines are currently purchased in Europe, and could have positive or negative implications on patient access and the financing of innovation down the line. It is therefore crucial for all parties that cross-country collaborations integrate the broader societal objectives associated with the purchasing of medicines early on: optimal patient access to state-of-the-art medicines, financing of innovation, and sustainability of public finances.