Strategic Issues in the Development of a Generics Market: Lessons from Spain and the Netherlands

Abstract

The authors have carried out a comparative study between two countries with a huge difference in terms of development of the generics market: Spain and the Netherlands. The main conclusion of this paper is that, currently, the most important factor for the development of a generics market is the existence of a suitable regulatory structure (explicit and implicit, formal and informal rules) adapted to the characteristics of each country and limited by the arguments that the pharmaceutical industry (branded and generics companies) can support in order to control the pharmaceutical invoice and, as a consequence, healthcare expenditure. The current development models are expensive and complex and, moreover, do not contribute to the consolidation of their development, given that they are influenced by agents and variables that are certainly difficult to control. If the objective is to develop a generics market because it will contribute in a positive way to reducing the public pharmaceutical expenses there is an urgent need to act on end consumers, eg patients, to enrich their perception of generic medicines.