WASHINGTON, DC (March 24, 2020) — The Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) and its member companies express our steadfast support for all who are battling COVID-19, from the patients diagnosed with the disease to the health care professionals providing their care. For our part, generic and biosimilar manufacturers are committed to serving as a trusted partner and resource to the United States government and all those responding to this pandemic.
Our mission is ensuring America’s patients get the generic and biosimilar medicines they need. That is true today and every day. To this point in the pandemic, Americans have not experienced COVID-19-related drug shortages, and we are working every day with our partners in government and our member companies to ensure that remains the case for the duration of this pandemic.
In the longer-term, however, COVID-19 has raised important questions about how prescription drugs are produced and delivered to America’s patients through the global supply chain from the more than 60 billion doses of generic drugs manufactured each year in the United States to those supplied from around the world. AAM and its member companies are committed to working with policymakers and other stakeholders to formulate policies that will ensure America’s patients have access to safe, effective and affordable generic and biosimilar drugs, while addressing concerns the COVID-19 crisis has raised.
While our immediate focus is delivering the generic and biosimilar drugs America’s patients need through the end of the current crisis, the conversation about how best to resolve outstanding questions begins now. The principles AAM is announcing today are meant to serve as a starting point from which we, along with policymakers, patients, academics and other stakeholders can form a proactive policy response in advance of future crises.
ATTRIBUTE TO: Jeff Francer, Interim CEO and General Counsel
Association for Accessible Medicines Principles for Protecting Patient Access and Diversifying the Supply Chain
- AAM and our member companies support efforts to diversify the pharmaceutical supply chain while protecting patient access from changes in policy that could increase the risk of drug shortages.
- AAM and our member companies believe all efforts to diversify the supply chain must protect the ability of America’s patients to maintain access to medicines in the short term while guaranteeing greater supply chain stability in the long term.
- AAM and our member companies will work with governments and stakeholders on policy measures that incentivize companies to diversify their respective supply chains.
- AAM and our member companies support providing additional information to regulators to provide greater clarity on the sources of pharmaceutical ingredients to help public health officials mitigate the risks of supply chain vulnerabilities including, for example, dependence on manufacturing in limited regions.
- AAM will be a resource for policymakers and stakeholders in addressing informational and policy-based needs around the risks of COVID-19 and other threats to the manufacture of generic and biosimilar medicines.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Schwartz
202.249.7147
About AAM
AAM is driven by the belief that access to safe, quality, effective medicine has a tremendous impact on a person’s life and the world around them. Generic and biosimilar medicines improve people’s lives, improving society and the economy in turn. AAM represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals are 90 percent of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but only 22 percent of total drug spending.
About the Biosimilars Council
The Biosimilars Council, a division of the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM), works to ensure a positive environment for patient access to biosimilar medicines. The Biosimilars Council is a leading source for information about the safety and efficacy of more affordable alternatives to costly brand biologic medicines. Areas of focus include public and health expert education, strategic partnerships, government affairs, legal affairs and regulatory policy. More information is available at www.biosimilarscouncil.org.