Europe’s health autonomy and the resilience of our pharma industry have been partially lost.

The unprecedented global health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has hit Europe particularly hard and has highlighted the weaknesses of our continent in terms of health autonomy. Formerly the global hub for the synthesis of pharmaceutical ingredients, Europe has gradually lost its ability to manufacture critical molecules (not only APIs but also their precursors) that form the composition of essential medicines.

As a result, the European medicines supply chain depends for 74% on Asia.

Europe’s dependence on other world regions poses an unacceptable risk for the European healthcare system. In recent years, increased occurrences of shortages of essential medicines in Europe constituted a health safety risk for patients and placed a very heavy financial burden on healthcare systems.

The strategic autonomy of Europe’s health system will depend on its ability to maintain and develop its existing industrial base as well as invest in new technologies to selectively reshore essential medicines’ supply chains.

EFCG members are part of the solution, providing a strong base on which to continue building a resilient and sustainable European pharmaceutical industry. Europe can rely on their existing facilities and their capabilities to maintain and develop their competences while ensuring full resilience of essential medicines value chains.

EFCG proposes a series of measures in this position paper