Economics
The World’s One-Time Pharmacy Now Has a Globalization Headache
- Ingredients for generic drugs often come from India and China
- Germany’s Spahn proposes key products be made in Europe
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Once known as the pharmacy to the world, Germany now has its work cut out to supply enough medicines to its own citizens.
The globalization-driven shift in drug making from Europe’s biggest economy to cheaper locations wasn’t too much of an issue until the coronavirus crisis, when India imposed export curbs on products including paracetamol. That over-the-counter painkiller was first clinically used in Germany, which dominated the industry before World War I.