Ten million people die each year because of inadequate access to essential medicines. It is estimated´that one third of the world’s population is lacking regular access to these drugs and vaccines which mainly affects the global south.
The “access gap”, as this problem is commonly called, results from different aspects such as insufficient infrastructure, lack of unqualified medical staff, political failure and lack of purchasing power due to high prices. High medicine prices are in part due to the system of patents that grants a monopoly to the owner thus allowing for free price setting.mMost new molecules are discovered and developed in public research institutions. Pharmaceutical companies then carry out the last stage of the development, i.e. the clinical trials. The costs of these trials are recuperated through the sale of the drugs. Unfortunately the prices are set so high that many people are effectively denied access to them.
Over the past decades alternative models have been outlined that delink the costs from the price of new drugs, thus guaranteeing their affordability. These include Global access licensing, patent pools, price funds, etc.
For this session we have invited international experts to share their views and experiences regarding these innovative concepts, to spark action among policy makers, researchers, and academic decision makers in Europe in order to change the paradigm.

Ten million people die each year because of inadequate access to essential medicines. It is estimated´that one third of the world’s population is lacking regular access to these drugs and vaccines which mainly affects the global south. The “access gap”, as this problem is commonly called, results from different aspects such as insufficient infrastructure, lack of unqualified medical staff, political failure and lack of purchasing power due to high prices. High medicine prices are in part due to the system of patents that grants a monopoly to the owner thus allowing for free price setting.mMost new molecules are discovered and developed in public research institutions. Pharmaceutical companies then carry out the last stage of the development, i.e. the clinical trials. The costs of these trials are recuperated through the sale of the drugs. Unfortunately the prices are set so high that many people are effectively denied access to them. Over the past decades alternative models have been outlined that delink the costs from the price of new drugs, thus guaranteeing their affordability. These include Global access licensing, patent pools, price funds, etc. For this session we have invited international experts to share their views and experiences regarding these innovative concepts, to spark action among policy makers, researchers, and academic decision makers in Europe in order to change the paradigm.