BAMPTD is an active member of the European Association of Euro-pharmaceutical Companies (EAEPC) that as from 21 of January, 2020 has changed its name to Affordable Medicines Europe. We hope you will appreciate this new name, which reflect more directly our industry’s raison d’être; to make medicines more affordable for European healthcare systems and patients. We represent more than 120 companies in 23 EU/EEA countries, responsible for more than 80% of the total parallel industry turnover of 5.5 billion Euro/year.
Every day, we identify price differences of medicines across European borders, and thanks to the EU Single Market, we can transfer those lower prices from one Member States to another. This way, we challenge pharmaceutical manufacturers’ possibility to extract the maximum price in every country – especially on patented medicines – by introducing competition. For the patient we effectively fight geo-blocking of medicines in a fully regulated and safe framework.
A series of studies have substantiated the considerable savings our industry generates via the introduction of competition. Today we have also the pleasure to publish a report summarising four new studies confirming the savings generated in 2018 in Poland, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. We are proud to have confirmed, that as a rule of thumb; for every 1 Euro of turnover in our industry, we generate a saving of 1 Euro for the healthcare systems. Please find the report attached to this letter and all the studies on www.affordablemedicines.eu.
From Estonia to Portugal, from Norway to Bulgaria, today we are also especially proud to alleviate shortages all over Europe by importing medicines in shortage. That is also why we have been one of the initiators of the #FillTheGap campaign. You are invited to join this effort.
As an industry, we are aware of the heavy responsibility that rests on our shoulders when it comes to the parallel exports of medicines. While often accused of causing shortages, this is not our experience. In fact, more than 50% of our supply comes from the top 11 high-income EU/EEA countries. Shortages, on the contrary, are primarily caused by production issues beyond Europe’s borders. Nonetheless, as an industry we are fully committed never to export medicines in shortage and work towards a regulatory framework where all EU Member States enjoy the competitive advantages of parallel import without risk of shortages elsewhere. In short, a healthy EU eco-system for parallel distribution of medicines.
AME is the only Brussels-based non-profit organisation which brings together the licensed European pharmaceutical parallel distribution industry, championing the industry's achievements and the benefits of its products.
Parallel distribution in pharmaceuticals creates competition in a business where patents provide the rights owner with a monopoly. This is good for the European economy, good for health care systems and good for patients. Affordable Medicines Europe is the only Brussels-based non-profit organisation which brings together the licensed European pharmaceutical parallel distribution industry, championing the industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products.
Parallel distributors are registered as pharmaceutical wholesalers who supply the intra-European market (often called ‘exporters’) or who place medicines from another country market in their market of destination (often called ‘importers’) who must in addition hold a manufacturing authorisation for the necessary repackaging.
Through the direct membership of 14 national associations and 21 individual companies, the Affordable Medicines Europe encompasses about 100 firms from 23 countries engaged in parallel distribution in the European Economic Area (EEA), representing 80 percent of the volume of the overall industry. Affordable Medicines Europe member companies are nearly all privately owned small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
All products handled by Affordable Medicines Europe members have national and/or EU regulatory approval and are exclusively sourced from and sold to European Economic Area (EEA) countries using only authorised trade channels.
History
Affordable Medicines Europe was founded in June 1998 but parallel distribution in medicines began long before the association, more than four decades ago. The original pioneers imported products from Italy into Germany and the UK. Soon after, medicines were increasingly traded from Greece and Spain into Scandinavia.
For a while parallel distribution operated mostly from the South to the North but in the last fifteen years, enabled by the European Single Market, parallel distribution has become a veritable intra-European activity. Nearly all EEA countries, where no barriers to trade exist, experience and benefit from incoming and outgoing parallel distribution.
Affordable Medicines Europe is and remains the only body to bring together pharmaceutical parallel distributors from across the European Economic Area (EEA).