BRUSSELS and PRAGUE , May 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Health is a right, not a privilege. Zentiva supports the EU vision of leaving no one behind and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 - Health & Wellbeing, which is strongly linked to other SDGs. As discussions on pharmaceutical legislation reform continue, Zentiva joins the united voice of Europe's off-patent medicines industry to ensure health is at the center of all political decisions. We urge EU Health Ministers to conclude the reform and take steps to secure sustainable healthcare in Europe, protecting the people who depend on affordable medicines every day.
This is not just another technical EU policy. It is about ensuring that every European, wherever they live, can access the medicines they need. It's about avoiding shortages, bringing production back to Europe, and making our health systems more resilient and fair. It is also about making the industry robust for the future, recognising investments in sustainability like reducing carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy at our manufacturing sites.
Zentiva is pleased that the off-patent medicines sector, represented by Medicines for Europe, had the opportunity to exchange views with European Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi during a recent meeting. We call on EU decision-makers to translate these discussions into actions that strengthen access, affordability, and European production of essential medicines. It's time for Europe to take responsibility, finalize the pharmaceutical reform, and safeguard patients.
Steffen Saltofte, CEO, Zentiva, stated: "Europe needs legislation that works, that is resilient and fair. We can only achieve this by talking to each other and understanding each other. We welcome the dialogue that is now in place with the European Commission. The off-patent industry is investing in Europe and standing by European patients. But the EU must do its part: provide clear incentives, target support for EU manufacturing, and remove harmful barriers that leave people who depend on our medicines behind. We are committed to working together on sustainable solutions for Europe's healthcare system. The latest Directive on Urban Wastewater Treatment (UWWTD) shows that by acting in isolation and without awareness of consequences, it can jeopardize the availability, accessibility, and affordability of essential medicines."
Zentiva is calling on decision-makers to:
- Act as a single market with harmonized principles to ensure faster access to medicines, reduce duplication in regulatory processes, and enable equal treatment for patients across the EU.
- Support affordable treatment by boosting competition on Day 1 once patents or regulatory exclusivity expire. Harmonization and clarification of the Bolar exemption are critical to achieving this.
- Prevent medicine shortages with better EU coordination and digital tools.
- Encourage smarter and affordable innovation on off-patent medicines that can change lives and address major health and environmental issues.
- Empower the Critical Medicines Act and broaden the principles to the whole sector, as people rely on access to other molecules beyond those defined as "critical" to sustain their health and wellbeing.
- Address and repair the disproportionate environmental legislation of Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD).
With 70% of prescription medicines being generics, 9 out of 10 critical medicines, and 40% of products having no therapeutic alternative other than generic medicines (IQVIA, 2024), it is essential to secure access and production for affordable medicines in Europe. There is no reason to delay reforms that serve Europeans who depend on our medicines every day.
About Zentiva
Zentiva provides health and wellbeing for all generations. We are a European company developing, producing, and delivering high-quality, affordable medicines to more than 100 million people in over 30 countries across Europe and beyond. Zentiva has four wholly owned manufacturing sites and a broad network of external manufacturing partners to ensure supply security. The company is private equity-owned, delivering sustainable growth, with an ambitious plan for the years to come.
We are a team of more than 5,000 unique talents bonded together by our commitment to ensuring the supply of high-quality, affordable medicines to people who depend on them every day. We want Zentiva to be a great place to work, where everyone feels welcomed and appreciated, and can be their true selves, contributing to the best of their ability.
Our roots reach back more than 500 years to a small pharmacy in Prague that still exists today. We act today for a sustainable tomorrow, so that Zentiva will continue to provide health and wellbeing for all generations for at least another 500 years.
www.zentiva.com
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