Rebecca Guntern
Vice President, Medicines for Europe; Head of Europe, Sandoz International
Rebecca Guntern-Flückiger is a purpose-driven leader and a regular contributor to industry discussions and initiatives. She is keen to drive debate and reform, and is particularly passionate about the accessibility and affordability of off-patent medicines, and leveraging generics and biosimilars to reduce costs of and increase access to medicines. As well as appearing on our 2022 Power List, she was named among the Top 100 Women in Business in Switzerland.
Guntern’s aspiration is “to take care of Europe.” She strives to make a positive impact on patient lives, particularly during a time of record inflation in Europe where rising input costs threaten the long-term market environment for critical off-patent medicines.
We asked…
What one thing do you think could improve the generics industry?
With the pharma review, we have a unique chance to reduce complexity through digitalization of regulatory systems, electronic patient information, and harmonized package sizes to realize an economy of scale. Ultimately, this is what the off-patent business is all about. As an industry, we need to be able to reallocate stocks more easily across Europe and build more resilient supply chains.
It’s important to remember what is at stake here; nothing less than ensuring sustainable manufacturing and constant supply to the European market of off-patent medicines, which account for 70 percent of total prescriptions at less than a third of the total cost. Simply put, it’s about keeping a diverse production footprint and supply of core medicines in Europe.
My call to all players across all sectors: let’s work together to create a sustainable environment for the generics medicines industry. We have the opportunity to jointly optimize the market and regulatory environment, in the best interests of all.
