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May 12 (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers and member states reached a provisional deal on Tuesday to strengthen the bloc's supply of essential medicines by boosting domestic production and reducing reliance on imports.
The move comes as the bloc seeks to ensure access to new drugs, with U.S. pricing policies under President Donald Trump disrupting the pharmaceutical sector and delaying some launches of cutting-edge treatments in Europe.
Against that backdrop, the agreement marks a step forward for the Critical Medicines Act, proposed by the European Commission last year, that targets supply-chain vulnerabilities for about 270 medicines considered critical to the region's health security.
Emer Cooke, head of the European Medicines Agency, said last month that the region was at a "critical point" in ensuring medicine supply and urged closer coordination among member states.
The measures target critical medicines such as antibiotics, insulin and vaccines, as well as medicines for chronic and rare diseases. They aim to expand EU manufacturing capacity and cut reliance on suppliers in countries such as China and India.
Under the plan - which would need to be approved by both the European Parliament and the European Council - the bloc would push industrial "strategic projects" and support qualifying companies to create, modernise or expand manufacturing capacity.
The text also gives authorities in the EU the scope to favour European production in public procurement, including by rewarding suppliers based on the share of medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients they manufacture in the bloc.
Analysts at consultancy Eurasia Group warned earlier this year that a stronger "Buy European" approach could raise concerns among companies and risk adding to U.S.-EU trade tensions.
(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ros Russell)
