The Forum of International Research and Development Pharmaceutical Companies reports that the total amount of donations given by its member companies in the fight against COVID-19 in Slovenia has exceeded one million Euros. Pharmaceutical companies have contributed donations in kind and in funding to Slovenian healthcare and healthcare workers to help mitigate the consequences of the epidemic. Donors also emphasize that they are continuing to intensively pursue investments into the search for cures, therapies and vaccines and establishment of effective information exchange systems.

Forum member companies have exceeded 1 million Euros with their donations to the Slovenian healthcare system and are continuing their investments into the search for an effective cure and vaccine against COVID-19. “The development of medicines and vaccines for mass use takes time, testing and verification, so we cannot expect the vaccine to be available tomorrow. Until then we must all stay dedicated to finding a way to mitigate the consequences of the epidemic. This is what the donations our members made to the Slovenian healthcare system over the past two months are intended for,” noted Barbara Stegel, Secretary General of the Forum.

The pharmaceutical industry is also very active at the European level where the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) is working together with the European Commission and the Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides to seek common solutions in the fight against COVID-19 while the European Commission has also raised 7.4 billion Euros to fight the epidemic.

“One of the priority tasks is the establishment of an effective system for exchanging information and data among EU member countries on the healthcare situation of each country, patients, medicines and medicinal product stocks. This information will allow the pharmaceutical industry to organize and prepare for a potential second wave of the epidemic,” added the Forum.

The pharmaceutical industry has also increased its production capacities in order to satisfy greater demand for medicines during the epidemic. If a second wave of the epidemic does occur, efficient distribution throughout the entire European territory will be essential, so it is very important that an agreement be reached on how to manage and control the epidemic at the European level.