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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Drugs Outcomes Research and Policies
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1447324

A perspective of public pharmaceutical tenders in Spain: the example of Adalimumab

Provisionally accepted
Francisco J. Esplugues Francisco J. Esplugues 1Isabel Andújar Isabel Andújar 1*Juan V. Esplugues Juan V. Esplugues 1,2
  • 1 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain
  • 2 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Madrid, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pharmaceutical spending accounts for a significant portion of public healthcare budgets. To manage these costs, EU countries implement various cost-containment policies, including competitive tendering for pharmaceuticals. This study examines the impact of EU public procurement regulations on medication procurement practices, specifically focusing on adalimumab tenders in Spain from 2018 to 2024, a period that coincides with the implementation of European legislation and the emergence of adalimumab biosimilars. Our findings reveal substantial price reductions following the introduction of adalimumab biosimilars, yet highlight significant variability in tender criteria and practices across different regions. Despite adherence to EU directives, the inconsistent application of economic and non-economic factors and an erratic criteria concerning price undermine the intended balance of quality and cost, complicating procurement processes and potentially affecting the availability of a given treatment for patients.

    Keywords: tender of pharmaceuticals, Public procurement, biosimilars, Adalimumab, Cost-containment, Health expenditure

    Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Esplugues, Andújar and Esplugues. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Isabel Andújar, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.