The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has published an assessment of European Union medical supply chains that identifies concentrated markets, upstream manufacturing dependencies and major data gaps affecting emergency preparedness. Focusing on injectable systemic corticosteroids, seasonal influenza vaccines and influenza RT-PCR tests, the report proposes international monitoring, joint procurement and pooled reserves alongside stronger digital early-warning capabilities. National corticosteroid markets typically depend on one or two suppliers, with the two largest marketing authorisation holders accounting for more than 80% of sales in most countries. Two manufacturers supply more than 80% of influenza vaccine doses, while the OECD identified 85 companies with CE-marked influenza RT-PCR kits but could not determine which products are sold in the EU or in what volumes. Limited visibility of active pharmaceutical ingredients, critical components, production capacity and stocks prevents authorities from fully mapping upstream risks. The OECD proposes piloting a multilateral monitoring mechanism covering 20 to 30 high-priority products, subject to confidentiality safeguards and competition-law protection. It also assesses joint procurement with non-EU partners using advance commitments and resilience incentives, and a pooled reserve combining rolling stocks, reserved capacity and surge arrangements. The report recommends adding full supply-chain indicators to ATHINA, building dedicated EU analytical and demand-forecasting capacity, establishing private-sector data-sharing arrangements and improving international interoperability.

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