🌍 Biologics are difficult to make and often rely on overseas plants and resources, leaving countries vulnerable to price spikes and disruptions.
💉 The Covid pandemic exposed the fragilities of international supply chains, leading to price rises and a scramble for medical supplies.
💼 Procurement policies that require access to manufacturing plants can discourage competition and maintain high prices.
🌱 New technology and biosimilars, which are generic versions of biologics, can help improve security of supply and reduce costs.
🛠 Policymakers need to create an encouraging environment for domestic manufacture and supply of biologics.
🔐 Health security should be given equal priority to energy security to avoid supply chain crises in the future.
Introduction:
In this article, the author examines the issue of biologic supply chains as a national security concern. The Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic have highlighted the vulnerabilities of supply chains for energy and medicine. While energy supply chains are treated as a national security issue, the same level of attention is not given to biologic supply chains. The lack of domestic manufacturing capacity for biologics poses a major obstacle to healthcare independence and makes the healthcare system more susceptible to price spikes and disruptions in politically volatile regions.
- Biologic treatments are highly effective and innovative, but access to manufacturing facilities in Europe is limited and requires reliance on overseas resources. This lack of domestic manufacturing capacity poses a risk to healthcare independence and exposes the healthcare system to price spikes and disruptions.
- The Covid pandemic and restrictions on Russian gas flows have demonstrated the fragility of international supply chains. Attempts at international coordination during the pandemic quickly gave way to a national scramble for medical supplies, resulting in dramatic price rises.
- European procurement policies have not adjusted to the risks associated with fragile international supply chains for essential medical treatments. Procurement policies often limit access to biologics due to their high cost, further exacerbating the risks.
- Public tenders for biologics unintentionally discourage competition and maintain market dominance for large incumbents, leading to elevated prices and limited access for lower-income countries. This approach to security of supply also reduces long-term security.
- New technology applied to biosimilars, which are generic versions of biologics, offers a potential solution to the security of supply predicament. Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) technology enables the reliable and tailored manufacturing of biosimilars at scale, making domestic manufacture of biologics more viable and reducing the reliance on incumbent producers.
Conclusion:
The fragility of biologic supply chains poses a national security concern, as demonstrated by the vulnerabilities exposed during the Ukraine war and the Covid pandemic. European procurement policies need to be adjusted to address the risks associated with relying on politically volatile regions for essential medical treatments. The introduction of biosimilars and the adoption of more innovation-friendly procurement policies could improve access to key treatments, reduce costs, and enhance national health security.
