Press releases

BEUC applauds the EU Commission for achieving that pharma company Aspen is now ready to lower the price of certain anti-cancer drugs by on average 73% in Europe for the next 10 years. Today’s commitments come after the EU Commission opened an antitrust investigation in May 2017 into whether Aspen breached EU antitrust rules’ ban on dominant companies imposing unfair prices.

The current pandemic is a stress test for our health care systems and sky-high medicines prices are one of the problems that need solving. As vaccines, testing kits and treatments are urgently needed to tackle COVID-19, BEUC urges the EU to ensure that public funding into treatment research results in medicines that are affordable to all. Experience shows that public investment in medicines research − such as cancer drugs − does not always ensure fair prices.

The top priorities for action by the new European Commission to advance the interests of Europe’s consumers during its five-year mandate have been outlined by The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) in mission letters sent to nine members of the new Commission team.

A Commission report issued today stresses the crucial role EU and national competition authorities play in keeping medicine prices in check and in ensuring access to generic medicines is possible.