EU Iberian P-I Ruling And The Dutch Market

While the Dutch pharmaceutical market as a whole is expected to have grown 5% in 1995, the same rate of rise as in 1994, trade in parallel imports is expected to be up 20%-25% and to account for more than 10% of the market, say local industry experts, speculating on the effects of the European Commission's decision not to extend the ban on parallel imports from Spain and Portugal to other European Union states.

However, the development of parallel trade in the netherlands may be hindered by large differences between the two markets, an IMS Nederland study conducted in late 1994 has revealed. This showed that 10 out of 25 leading drugs in the Netherlands were not available in Spain, or at least not in the same forms and strengths, and that a number of top-sellers including Glaxo Wellcome's ranitidine, aciclovir and salmeterol, Astra's omeprazole and MSD's simvastatin were cheaper in the Netherlands than in Spain.

Industry Views The industry "fails to understand" the Commission's decision, says the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries' Associations, adding that while the Commission acknowledges the likelihood of serious economic difficulties, it fails to propose a remedy. EFPIA director Brian Ager has urged it to seek a solution along the policy lines set out in the 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness, Employment, which he says have since been confirmed in successive Commission communications, not least last March's Communication on the Outlines of an Industrial Policy for the Pharmaceutical Industry in the European Community.