The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices is currently reporting 301 delivery bottlenecks. Antibiotics, breast cancer drugs, antihypertensives. Pill emergency in Germany. How can that be in the former pharmacy of the world?
“Blood pressure medication, painkillers or antibiotics have supply chains that stretch across the world’s oceans and continents,” says the pharmaceutical industry association Pro Generika. This could quickly lead to difficulties if the supply chains are interrupted, as happened during the pandemic. Curious: Not even the authorities know exactly where a pharmaceutical company is currently producing.
Some problems are homemade. The Israeli manufacturer Teva has had to supply more than 90 percent of the market for paracetamol fever juice since May because the Bavarian company 1A Pharma has withdrawn from production.
In view of the fixed price of 1.36 euros per bottle that had been in force for years, the business was no longer profitable! Pro-Generic Managing Director Bork Bretthauer (53): “Inflation exacerbates the problem. Despite massive cost increases, manufacturers cannot increase their prices.”
Pediatrician boss Thomas Fischbach (63) calls on the government to take immediate action to remedy the shortage. “Babies can’t swallow pills to lower fever.” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (59, SPD) wants to allow health insurance companies by law not to necessarily give preference to the cheapest provider.
Susanne Johna (57) from the Marburger Bund medical association complains about the dependence on individual locations in China or India and also calls for short-term measures. “Pharmaceutical wholesalers should stock up for four weeks instead of just two. Pharmacies should stock up for a week.”
The global pharmaceutical market
▶︎ Deutschland: The market consists of two types of drugs. Manufacturers are sometimes allowed to charge high prices for original preparations – until the patent expires. Then other manufacturers can produce copycat preparations (generics). These make up 80 percent of the drugs we prescribe.
▶︎ Europa: Many innovative medicines still come from here. Corporations such as Roche and Novartis (Switzerland) or the British-Swedish AstraZeneca are among the largest in the world. The important anesthetic propofol is manufactured 100 percent in Europe.
▶︎ China: In Asia, most of the drugs that are needed in very large volumes are produced. 80 percent of the antibiotics we use come from China. Just like almost a third of the raw materials for our pharmaceutical production. If there are lockdowns in China, deliveries are delayed
▶︎ If: The most prescribed antihypertensive drug is called ramipril. 80 percent of the active ingredient comes from India, 10 percent from China and only 10 percent from Europe. The active ingredient in most of the medicines from European pharmaceutical companies comes from China and the manufacturing takes place in India.
▶︎ USA: When it comes to pharmaceutical breakthroughs, US companies such as Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have a prominent position. But during the pandemic, the United States also felt its dependence on Asia for raw materials and basic-needs drugs. Now more production is to be brought into the country.
supply chains
Globalization has made branched pharmaceutical production across several continents with long transport routes cheaper than production in Europe would be possible. But in crises, the supply chains become unstable and the supply of medicines is at risk.
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.