The application of a plethora of measures with an emphasis on direct control of pharmaceutical expenditure has been a main pillar of cost containment policy in our country. However, achieving the strategic goals of a healthcare system requires the development of an integrated and realistic development plan that is not only short-term in nature.

However, the concept of an integrated plan in the pharmaceutical market seems to be a complex and multidimensional process, given the coexistence of three different submarkets, namely generics, off-patent drugs, and protected drugs. In this context, a coherent pharmaceutical policy must include all three submarkets in the process of strategic and operational planning.

In this context, this book focuses on the search for appropriate interventions in the non-protected drug market in the Greek reality, which will allow for the maximum utilization of the positive results that generic drugs can bring to the healthcare system. The methodological approach followed in this book is based on the analysis of European practices and the study of the possible effects of implemented measures, taking into account the differentiation of various healthcare systems and the particular characteristics of Greece.

In this context, both the complete depiction of the effectiveness of the generics policy at an international level and the parallel study of the Greek pharmaceutical market allowed for the identification of appropriate alternative interventions. These interventions focus on the behavior of demand and supply shapers and can work together towards fully utilizing the positive elements of generic drugs, in order to achieve the main goals of pharmaceutical policy and health policy.