Counterfeit Drugs Cost Europe More Than €10 Billion a Year

A new report by the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights assesses the economic impact of counterfeiting and piracy in the pharma sector.   The economic cost of IPR infringement in the pharmaceutical industryunderscores the serious public health threat posed by counterfeit medicines. Estimates suggest that 10% of all medicines supplied globally are falsified. The report further estimates that counterfeiting costs the pharmaceutical industry and Europe more than €10 billion each year and may result in the loss of up to 40,000 direct jobs. Taking into account the broader and indirect effects of counterfeit pharmaceuticals on other sectors, this translates to a negative impact of over €17 billion and 90,000 job losses.   Welcoming the report, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) said: "It is only via a multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach that we can ensure success in the fight against this negative and life-threatening phenomenon."