The Antitrust declaration in favor of the prescription of generic drugs, which the daily press is highlighting today, does not seem to take into account the patient's interest in receiving the best possible treatment and the value of the brand for companies, their ability to compete and innovate. As far as the patient is concerned, the prescription of generics can in fact lead, in certain cases, to problems connected to the presence of different excipients compared to the branded product. Still from the point of view of the patient's health, in the case of medicines that have several active ingredients in combination, the work of the doctor becomes more difficult, who, having to keep particularly complex scientific names by heart, sees the risk of always possible human errors in therapy increase. A risk that goes hand in hand with that for elderly chronic patients, accustomed – perhaps for years – to a specific package that is easily recognizable for them. As far as businesses are concerned, the value of the brand in differentiating the uniqueness of the product is a particularly evident value in the pharmaceutical sector. In fact, the brand represents an asset resulting from research and constitutes for consumers an element of recognition of the product, of trust in the company and, last but not least, a guarantee of quality. For this reason – with the obligation to prescribe generics – there is the risk of taking resources away from those companies which, to defend the brand, continue to carry out product development and improvement research even when the patent has expired. Hitting the brand in the pharmaceutical sector, making the prescription of generics compulsory, therefore means weakening companies, undermining their strong inclination towards exports and innovation. In conclusion, Farmindustria is not opposed to a fair pricing policy (which is not that of continuous indiscriminate cuts) that defends the consumer, but asks that a sector - that of generics - which obviously does not have Research by vocation not be privileged.
From Farmindustria 12/11/2006
