Parallel distribution

Parallel distribution of medicines in the European Community is an absolutely legitimate activity regulated by the European legislation. The name "parallel" comes from its essence - it is trade outside the organized distribution network (manufacturer - wholesaler - pharmacy / hospital) established by the manufacturers of medicinal products by the amounts determined by them for the individual countries. Like the rest participants in the pharmaceutical sector, the parallel trade is highly regulated and controlled locally and at EU level.

Parallel distribution of medicines creates a real competitive environment and helps regulate the prices of medicinal products in the Member States and should therefore be protected, tolerated and encouraged.

The free movement of goods, including medicines, within the common European market is a fundamental and most important principle of the European legislation entitling the European citizens to access medicines from this place in Europe where the prices are the lowest.

Parallel distribution of medicines as well as other goods counteracts price differences between different national markets within the European Economic Area (EEA). Parallel distributors buy products marketed by the original pharmacy manufacturers at a lower price in one country and sell them in another country where the price is higher. Such trading is legal under the rule of regional exhaustion of the trademark owner's right applied in the EU and the EEA.

Companies engaged in parallel distribution of medicines are an integrated part of the European pharmaceutical market and the drug supply chain and add value to society by introducing price competition on the market as an additional filter to check product safety. Companies performing parallel distribution of medicinal products are licensed by the regulatory authorities of the respective EU Member State and are working in accordance with the requirements of good practices for the production and / or distribution of medicines.

Parallel distributors of medicines provide savings for public organizations purchasing medicines while ensuring that these medicines are proven in the EU and are part of the legal drug supply chain.

Licensed wholesalers supply medicines from original manufacturers with a single source Europe, and they are carefully scrutinized under EU legislation and national regulations that apply to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Drugs produced in the same plants and sold through the same channels are identical to products that are distributed by the local brand owner but are cheaper.

For more than 40 years patients have been receiving guaranteed parallel trade savings that bring competition to the otherwise closed pharmaceutical market and with improved access to medicines that are subject to limited or problematic distribution.