Europe's consumer health industry is faced with proliferating regulations under the EU's Green Deal policy program. Proposed revisions to the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, for example, expect pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturers to pay for the removal of micro-pollutants that are mostly flushed into the wastewater system by consumers. While the European Commission says it is “sympathetic” to industry's concerns, such as those raised at the AESGP Annual Meeting and in recent publications, its director for zero pollution and green cities, Veronica Manfredi, stressed that “there are no excuses, there can be no business as usual” given the urgency of the situation. 

European consumer health companies today have the luxury of voluntarily setting sustainability goals. But with regulations looming and pressure from retailers and consumers mounting, such requirements will soon be mandatory, Haleon’s Joe Muscat warned at the recent AESGP Annual Meeting in Paris, France. To ride the climate wave, while achieving their objectives, OTC firms need to work together, he explained.

Stada Arzneimittel’s UK dietary supplement subsidiary Natures Aid is expanding its Mini Drops and Super Stars children’s wellness brands with new products.

One way to revitalize interest in the EU's centralized switch procedure would be to introduce longer data exclusivity periods or market exclusivity for successful applicants, concluded an AESGP expert switch panel presenting at the association's 59th Annual Meeting in Paris, France. However, a European Commission representative told another panel that this was not under consideration as part of the EU pharmaceutical legislation revision.

The European Commission shocked participants at this year's AESGP Annual Meeting by warning that OTC antifungals, like treatments for athlete’s foot, and OTC antivirals, like cold sore creams, could soon become prescription-only within the region, under proposed revisions to the EU pharma legislation. There is hope, however. The proposals are still open to feedback from industry, the AESGP points out, and even if this proposal becomes law, member states can waive this prescription requirement under certain conditions.

HBW Insight catches up with US executive editor, Malcolm Spicer, to discuss Perrigo subsidiary HRA Pharma’s Rx-to-OTC switch application for its daily contraceptive, Opill. With the switch currently under consideration by the US Food and Drug Administration after a positive recommendation from its advisory committees, Spicer draws on his in depth coverage of the subject, as well as his extensive experience writing about the US consumer health market, to tell listeners what they need to know about this historic switch.