Bankruptcy of a large medicine factory in the Netherlands makes us even more dependent on China and India: ‘Undesirable’
Some medicines may not be available for a while The Leiden medicine manufacturer InnoGenerics has gone bankrupt. The company has been kept afloat with government support since 2019, but is no longer receiving it.
InnoGenerics makes patent-free medicines, such as antihypertensives, antidepressants, antibiotics, painkillers and blood thinners. Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health agrees that some medicines may eventually be out of stock. Still, like other investments, the minister does not want to invest any more money in the company, because it would not be viable in the long term.
Daily shortages
“It was one of the few producers that still accelerated medicines for depression, cardiovascular disease and cholesterol in the Netherlands,” says Aris Prins of the KNMP pharmacists’ association. The consequences of the closure go beyond the current shortages. “We deal with shortages every day,” says Prins. “It is essential that we can get the products.”
The Heart Foundation is also concerned. “This is annoying for patients. You are used to your medicines and the quality. So if a factory closes, you start to worry. That is an undesirable situation. And we are therefore becoming even more dependent on medicines from India and China.” says Hans Snijder of the Heart Foundation.
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Not important anymore?
In 2019, InnoGenerics production was no longer trusted, according to the future owner of the company. But an investment of millions from the previous cabinet kept the company afloat. “A few years ago, the company was already written down ten times,” health economist Xander Koolman also confirmed.
“What is special about this is that with this bankruptcy, the production of various medicines is leaving not only the Netherlands, but also Europe. We are now dependent on India and China and that all brings problems. In India, we had problems with the delivery and in China you see that geopolitical considerations play a role. Continuing to produce in the Netherlands was important, was the idea, but that no longer seems to be the case.”
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The Netherlands is vulnerable
Koolman says that it is not self-evident that there will be no shortages. “But we have had shortages more often in the past year where we had not expected that. Then there was no shortage in Poland, for example, but there was with us. So we are vulnerable, is plausible.”
It is therefore important that production is kept in the Netherlands. But why doesn’t that work? “The broad belief among European politicians is that we have to set up a production, but it is not yet underdeveloped. At the moment there is still a lot of uncertainty about how to do that and I think that is also the basis of this bankruptcy,” says Koolman . The Heart Foundation also wants a direction to be included. “There must be a vision from the Netherlands, or rather: European,” says Snijder.
emergency stock
Koolman thinks it is especially important that emergency supplies remain available in the Netherlands.
“During the crisis, we saw that countries close their borders. The capacity for the Netherlands is then limited. We have seen that, as a small country, we cannot count on other European countries in times of crisis.”
Watch the TV report.