– ROME, April 30 – The yes of the European Court of Justice to state incentives for doctors who prescribe equivalent drugs will hopefully "be a stimulus to those countries, such as Italy, where there is a dangerous inertia in the promotion of this sector". Thus the president of AssoGenerici, Giorgio Foresti, in a note. Assogenerici indicates some measures it intends to take to encourage the development of equivalents in Italy. "For rapid access to the market for equivalent drugs upon expiry of the patent - he explains - mechanisms could be established for the automatic fixing of the reimbursement price, and all the delaying practices already reported could be banned". For medicines for hospital use then, AssoGenerici calls for the creation of clearer rules to determine the basic auction price of the tenders that corresponds to the price negotiated with AIFA, and the revision of payments by the local health authorities and hospitals, which are often late. As for biosimilar medicines, "we believe – concludes Foresti – that an alignment with the European Directives must be achieved so that the national legislation, which already establishes that medicines of similar biological origin cannot be treated like generic products (automatic substitution not allowed), does not result in their discrimination".
The news of Ansa Salute – 04/30/2010 19:13
