This year, this value already exceeds 96 million euros, the Portuguese Association of Generic and Biosimilar Medicines (APOGEN) said in a statement.

“With every second that passes, the dispensing of generic medicines generates a value of 18.42 euros for Portuguese families and the State in community pharmacies”, says the association, citing data from the Center for Health Studies and Evaluation and the online counter ' on the APOGEN website, launched in 2020, through a partnership between the National Pharmacy Association (ANF) and APOGEN.

According to the association, generics made it possible to allocate more than 580 million euros to healthcare in 2023, 71.6 million more than in 2022, the highest number ever in 13 years of accounting.

In total, between 2011 and 2023, generic medicines have already freed up resources worth 5,860 million euros.

According to the data, around 108 million packages of generics were dispensed in community pharmacies last year, representing a growth of 5.7% compared to 2023.

The president of APOGEN, Maria do Carmo Neves, highlights in the statement “the favourable path anchored in the trust of users and health professionals regarding generic medicines”, stating that “these technologies provide fulfilment of the fundamental right to health protection”.

She highlights that these more cost-effective therapies guarantee greater access to health, increase access to innovation and contribute to the reduction of social inequalities, as well as allowing the prevention of disease and an increase in average life expectancy.