FRANCE CALLS FOR GREATER GENERICS SAVINGS

The French government body responsible for health insurance, the Haut Conseil, has welcomed the increased use of generic drugs but believes more can be achieved, given that generics only account for 15% by volume of the reimbursable pharmaceutical market.

The Haut Conseil is proposing an extension of the "generic repertoire" to reduce the number branded drug prescriptions and deliver the EUR1.1bn of savings from generic drugs that the government is targeting by 2007.

However, this may not be realised, as French doctors are reluctant to prescribe generic drugs and favour brand name pharmaceuticals, according to the Haut Conseil. In the UK and Germany, generics respectively account for 53% and 56% of the reimbursable pharmaceutical market in volume terms.