IMPEDIMENTS TO EC PARALLEL PHARMA TRADE

Within the European Community there are a number of impediments to parallel trade in prescription medicines, according to a study completed last year by UK-based REMIT Consultants for the European Comm-ission. Among these it notes government licensing, different brand names and the availability of supply. In addition, it suggests that financial motivation of pharmacists is fundamental.

The study explains that parallel trade occurs when a given medicine is priced cheaply in one EC country where prices are closely controlled by the government, and then is imported into another country with a more liberal medicine price regime, where it is sold to pharmacists and hospitals below the price of the same product supplied locally.

The main countries receiving parallel-imported medicines, according to the REMIT study, are those where historically prices have been set with some freedom by manufacturers. The estimated values of parallel imports in 1990 were: 235 million Ecu ($299 million) in the UK; 85-100 million Ecu in Germany and 50-100 million Ecu in the Netherlands.