(AVN) Venice, April 12, 2018

The Regional Administrative Court of Veneto, with sentence no. 00138/2018 published on 9 April last, rejected an appeal brought by a drug manufacturer against the Veneto Region for the award of an equivalent drug for the treatment of HIV through a public tender, which took place at a price of 1.62 euros per tablet, compared to 13.29 euros for the previous supply, thus obtaining savings of around 5 million euros in two years.

The appellant company is the owner of an industrial property right, effective until February 2020, on a drug consisting of the combination of various active ingredients, and had appealed against the award to another company, called by the Region, for the supply of an "equivalent" medicine containing the combination of those active ingredients.

The appeal was rejected for technical aspects related to the appeal procedure, but the validity of the choice made by the Region and by Azienda Zero remains, which were sponsored, respectively, by the Regional Attorney (Lawyers Ezio Zanon and Emanuele Mio) and by Lawyer Chiara Cacciavillani.

“Apart from the technical-juridical aspects – underlines the Councilor for Health Luca Coletto – it is extremely positive that competing tenders can be held between 'designer' and 'equivalent' drugs. In this case we have obtained an important drug without spending about 5 million euros which, in fact, belong to the citizens. The use of an equivalent medicine - he adds - is a great advantage for the national and regional health system since the resources that are freed up can be made available to guarantee access to innovative therapies for the treatment of diseases that still today have few therapeutic options".

Veneto Regional Administrative Court. Judgment no. 00138/2018

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