Spanish generic industry takes lead in court challenges to Andalusia's drug tender
MADRID, Apr 9 (APM - Belen Diego) - Spanish generic manufacturers' association AESEG told APM on Wednesday it had challenged in court the fourth drug tender launched by the Andalusia region, while branded pharma group Farmaindustria plans to follow, and the health ministry examines its options.
Ángel Luis Rodríguez de la Cuerda, director of AESEG, said they have challenged the tender, as they did with the three previous ones.
However, he argued this fourth tender is different, alleging it's a "flagrant violation" of Spanish law, which was specifically modified in July 2013 to outlaw regional drug tenders.
Whereas previous legislation was unclear, the law approved in July means that any local measure affecting the price of drugs is illegal because only the ministry of health can modify what the country pays for medicines.
De la Cuerda said this time there are more solid legal grounds to suspend the tender. Regarding the ministry's lack of immediate action, he said: "That is something we cannot do anything about, what we can and have done is challenge it in court ourselves".
Farmaindustria second in line to sue Andalusia
In a statement sent to APM on Tuesday, Farmaindustria said it will legally challenge the tender because it is a violation of Spain's latest pricing regulation. The statement said the tender is bad news for the industry, but also for the health system and patients, which will not have the same access to drugs across Spanish regions.
Farmaindustria said in running the "opportunistic" tender, Andalusia ignored the high risk of shortage of supplies and relies on manufacturers out of the tender to come to the rescue when community pharmacies run out of medicines.
Ministry to add its weight to legal challenge?
Ministry's sources told APM on Tuesday that they are considering legal action.
The tender includes 251 active pharmaceutical ingredients and designed to provide 36.6 million euros in annual savings.
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