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Ladies & Gentlemen,
Honored guests, members of the
Korean Press;
Equal access to modern medicines
is by and large the goal of
all global health care agencies.
Modern medicines contribute
substantially to an improved
quality of life, longevity and
in some cases are curative to
previously untreatable terminal
disease states.
Members of the international
research and development pharmaceutical
and biotechnology organizations
engage in cutting edge technologies
that provide new hope for people
suffering from chronic and acute
disease states. This technology
and the complexity of new drug
discovery grow exponentially
in cost every year as the diseases
we fight become more difficult
to control and the expectations
of the world’s population to
optimum health poses a challenging
target.
Today, I represent the interests
of my EU based pharmaceutical
companies who operate substantial
businesses in Korea and who
make a committed investment
to development of their business
through the introduction of
new medical technologies and
treatment options.
Since our last gathering with
the Korean press in 2004, little
improvement has been observed
in our struggle to overcome
the many barriers to fair trade
in Korea. In fact, we are still
yet to receive clarity of explanation
to our 2004 trade issues from
the Korean Government. Our consolidated
fear is that barriers to fair
trade for EU companies will
remain as they have done for
the last 4 or 5 years without
effective resolution.
Our association of pharmaceutical
companies has endeavored to
reach a working agreement with
the Government in relation to
transparent pricing processes.
This agreement was the subject
of a memorandum of understanding
to the Government in 2004 however;
we must unfortunately report
that there has been a failure
on the Governments side to respond
to the memorandum. At this time,
pricing for new medicines has
poor transparency and does not
follow the original intention
of fair pricing according to
a proposal prompted by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Due to this severe problem,
our industry cannot effectively
plan to launch its new medications
since we don not know how the
overall pricing mechanism in
the Government operates.
Our opinion is that new medicines
should be accorded with a pricing
policy that is open and transparent
and which supports the structure
of a pricing comparison to 7
developed countries, this is
the original proposal by the
Government however, the system
is manipulated in manner that
restricts access to new compounds
due to pricing irregularities
and restrictive prescribing
guidelines.
The EU Pharmaceutical Group
are also totally committed to
supporting the campaign of President
Roh in his efforts to stamp
out corrupt business practices
which flow through the whole
of the Korean business community.
Corruption is an unwanted and
disruptive element in health
care and subsequently distorts
the capability of the system
to deliver optimum health benefits
to the population of Korea.
Colleagues, the Pharmaceutical
Industry delivers real value
to the health and well being
of the Korean people. Our new
medical technologies will provide
new hope and opportunity for
sufferers of complex diseases.
Unless there is recognition
of improved access to new medicines
through a radical improvement
in pricing and a concerted effort
to block corrupt business practices,
we see a very bleak picture
for the future.
Thank you for your attention |
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