AESGP

“Despite there being a common regulatory framework for medicinal products in the European Union, there remains a diversity of approaches between EU member states with regards to how they regulate access to nonprescription medicines,” notes AESGP's Klavdija Kmetič, as the association updates its OTC ingredients directory.

When it comes to online consumer health product advertising, complying with regulations, ensuring that content is factually correct and being transparent are some of the key principles that companies should adhere to, recommends AESGP in a recently published position paper. 

Real-world data and evidence, for example generated by digital consumer health technology like apps and wearables, could provide crucial support for Rx-to-OTC switch applications, argues Sanofi Consumer Healthcare’s Penny Glover at the Association of the European Self-Care Industry's 60th Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Recent research by Sanofi indicates that regulators are actually already using RWD and RWE in many cases when assessing switch applications, even if they do not call it that. 

Industry can look forward to a global OTC market compound annual growth rate of around 7% over the next few years, according to IQVIA Consumer Health. Innovation will be key to ensure individual companies realize this level of growth. IQVIA CH's Amit Shukla and Simon-Kucher & Partners' Clemens Oberhammer point to some key consumer trends to keep an eye on at the recent AESGP Annual Meeting in Brussels. 

Failing to take sufficient action on climate change could be a costly business for consumer health companies. However, the good news from the AESGP's 60th Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, is that at least half of the cost of decarbonizing will be balanced by savings, according to Boston Consulting Group. And climate change adaption will present firms with a wide variety of opportunities for product innovation, IQVIA Consumer Health's Volker Spitzer tells delegates.

Should the consumer health industry be exempt from the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive? This question is hotly debated by representatives from major flexible packaging supplier Amcor and OTC manufacturer Perrigo at the 60th AESGP Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. 

The Association of the European Self-Care Industry's 60th Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, opens with a rousing call to action from president Jonathan Workman. Looking to the upcoming EU elections, Workman urges industry to push for widening access to OTC medicines through switch, digital and sustainable investment, improved health literacy and regulatory flexibility.