Counterfeit medicines affect the whole society

On the 29th of September, the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights published another report which focused on the economic impact of counterfeit medicines in the European Union.

The study researched the impact in several different fields – the European Union marketplace, the pharmaceutical industry, government and society as a whole.

Amongst other things, the Observatory found that due to counterfeiting, the pharmaceutical sector loses 4,4% of sales annually, which makes up a total of 10.2 billion euros in revenue. Additionally, the amount of government revenue, which comes from taxes and social contributions, lost due to the counterfeiting is 1.7 billion euros. The cost is especially pricy for employees – 90 900 direct and indirect jobs are also lost annually.

Further information and the report can be accessed in English here: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/web/observatory/ipr-infringement-pharmaceutical-sector