European Commission launches alliance to fight shortages of essential medicines

The European Commission on Tuesday launched an alliance to tackle drug shortages in the European Union (EU), which have been recurring since the pandemic and have been exacerbated by supply chain disruptions such as those caused by the war in Ukraine.

In a statement, Ursula von der Leyen’s boss said the alliance “will help find manufacturing, contracting and financing solutions that increase the strategic autonomy of critical medicines.”

The Critical Medicines Alliance, as the Commission calls it, is part of a “concerted effort” to diversify supply chains internationally and within EU member states.

“[A aliança] will change the way we produce and purchase medicines and ultimately secure our supply chains,” said European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides, quoted in the published note.

The platform is designed for five years and will be open to all companies and organizations wishing to participate in it, in partnership with the health and pharmaceutical authorities of the Member States.

At the same time, the alliance created by the European Commission aims to promote joint EU procurement of essential pharmaceuticals and their fair distribution, taking into account the needs of each Member State.

The first recommendations from this alliance are scheduled for “next spring.”

At the same time, the Commission is still awaiting approval of changes to pharmaceutical legislation that aim to increase sustainability and interoperability within the industry and to ensure certain drugs that are in short supply but are still being held back by the European Parliament. and the Council, so its approval is not predictable until the end of this term, since European elections will take place in June 2024.