Policy options for sustainable access to off-patent antibiotics in Europe

Maintaining long-term access to currently available antibiotics is essential for reducing antibiotic resistance and for optimizing agent selection for specific therapies. Due to sporadic shortages or overall market unavailability, access of antibiotics is frequently limited in many nations. With an emphasis on the viewpoints of European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) institutions and member states, this article highlights important policy alternatives to preserve the availability of currently available antibiotics and improve the resilience of the antibiotic supply chain.