Europe – Parliament adopts its position on EU pharmaceutical reform

MEPs adopted their proposals to revamp EU pharmaceutical legislation, to foster innovation and enhance the security of supply, accessibility and affordability of medicines.

The legislative package, covering medicinal products for human use, consists of a new directive (adopted with 495 votes in favour, 57 against and 45 abstentions) and regulation (adopted with 488 votes in favour, 67 against and 34 abstentions).

Incentives for innovation

MEPs want to introduce a minimum regulatory data protection period (during which other companies cannot access product data) of seven and a half years, in addition to two years of market protection (during which generic, hybrid or biosimilar products cannot be sold), following a marketing authorisation…