Pharmaceutical firms committed to supplying medicines to Greece

As the debt crisis continues to affect spending in Greece, multinational pharmaceutical companies have vowed to ensure the flow of medicines into the country, according to the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE).

But Natalia Toubanaki, communications director for the SFEE, warned that Greece could encounter a raft of pharma issues should it exit the Eurozone.
“Companies have made a commitment to make the same adequate supplies of medicines,” Ms Toubanaki said in comments to The Pharmaceutical Journal.
The SFEE represents subsidiaries of multinational companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis and Roche.
Ms Toubanaki remarked: “We are talking daily with EOF [the medicines regulator] about any [possible] malfunction in the market.”
Health needed to be left out of austerity debate “in the next few days” and industry must ensure “supplies continue”.
”However,” she added, “should the country leave the Eurozone, SFEE would like to see the introduction of export bans, so medicines cannot be traded out of the country.
“The first priority [would be] a ban of exports to ensure an adequate supply of medicines for Greece to prevent parallel exports.”
The Greek government is indebted to the pharmaceutical industry for €1.05bn. Zero payments have been made since December 2014.

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Phill Allen

Managing Director

Phill is an innovative thinker particularly in fluid management. His expertise lies in ensuring the seamless flow of pharmaceutical liquid logistics, whether it's optimising current processes or pioneering new approaches.

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