The\nresearch-based pharmaceutical industry researches, develops and manufactures\ninnovative medicinal products that prevent and cure diseases, relieve pain and\nimprove patients\u2019 quality of life. In recent decades, the research-based\npharmaceutical industry has brought products onto the market in many\ntherapeutic areas, enabling major progress to be made in alleviating diseases\nand, in some cases, also curing them. Yet in spite of this great progress in medicine,\nthere are still no suitable therapies available for two-thirds of all known\ndiseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nsafety, quality and efficacy of medicines are of central importance for\npatients. In Switzerland, Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic\nProducts, is responsible for ensuring these aspects. Following a comprehensive\nreview, it decides whether or not a medicinal product can be authorised to be\nplaced on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nresearch-based pharmaceutical industry provides the health authorities with\nextensive data from preclinical and clinical trials, and this forms the basis\nfor an assessment of the quality, efficacy and safety of a medicinal product.\nThe provision of this information involves an enormous amount of time and\nexpense. It generally takes between 10 and 15 years to discover and develop a\nnew medicine. This work involves costs in excess of CHF 1.2 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\npatients, it is important that clinical trials are carried out in their country\nbecause clinical trials are one way of gaining access to the latest\ndevelopments. Whether or not a country is an attractive place to perform\nclinical trials depends, among other things, on how competitive the framework\nconditions are. In Switzerland, the Human Research Act regulates the\nrequirements for performing clinical trials in this country. Together with the\nimplementing ordinances, it came into effect at the start of 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nconditions governing the authorisation of medicinal products are regulated in\nthe Therapeutic Products Act (TPA). This states that medicines may only be\ndispensed if they comply with the legal and internationally harmonised\nrequirements in terms of safety, efficacy and quality. Swissmedic, the competent\nauthority in such matters, decides whether a medicinal product may only be sold\non presentation of a doctor\u2019s prescription (prescription-only) or without a\nprescription but with professional advice (prescription-free). Manufacturers\nmust all comply with the same legal requirements for safety and quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rapid\naccess for patients to high-quality therapeutic products and new treatments\nrequires a competent, independent and internationally recognised medicines\nagency to regulate these products, something that is also in the fundamental\ninterest of the export-based pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The integrity of the channels through which medicines are distributed is of increasing importance for patients. Counterfeit medicines represent a growing threat to patients\u2019 safety and, in a worst-case situation, to their survival. The threat posed to public health by counterfeit medicines can only be averted if the necessary awareness of the issue exists, the need to act is acknowledged and a joint effort is made by the partners operating at all stages of the pharmaceutical supply chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The research-based pharmaceutical industry researches, develops and manufactures innovative medicinal products that prevent and cure diseases, relieve pain and improve patients\u2019 quality of life. In recent decades, the research-based pharmaceutical industry has brought products onto the market in many therapeutic areas, enabling major progress to be made in alleviating diseases and, in some cases, also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14695,"parent":4208,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/unterthema.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3924","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n