60 Essential Medicines Barred from Export to Shield Portugal’s Patients

Portugal’s medicines watchdog has drawn a new line at the country’s borders. By blocking overseas shipments of 60 pharmaceutical products, the authority hopes to keep domestic shelves stocked through a winter already marked by sporadic shortages. The decision, announced quietly at the start of November, covers everything from cancer treatments to childhood vaccines and illustrates how fragile global supply chains have become.

A precaution born of shortages

Repeated reports of stock-outs, lengthy pharmacy hunts and last-minute hospital borrowing persuaded Infarmed to hit the brakes on outward sales. According to the regulator’s most recent dashboard, more than half of Portugal’s community pharmacies flagged at least one unavailable medicine in the past year. Hospitals fared no better, with 73% admitting to regular inventory gaps. Against that backdrop, the November embargo was framed as a “protective buffer”: a temporary tool to shield the Portuguese market while manufacturers catch up on delayed batches.

The 60 medicines staying put

Although the full roster can only be consulted on Infarmed’s portal, officials confirmed it spans oncology therapies, antibiotics, antiepileptics, psychiatric drugs, ADHD formulations, opioid-overdose antidotes and critical vaccines such as those against tuberculosis and hepatitis A. Each item met at least one of two thresholds: it either suffered a medium or high impact shortage last month, or it is supplied under an “Autorização de Utilização Excecional”, meaning Portuguese patients have no authorised alternative. Keeping these molecules inside the country, the regulator stresses, does not amount to protectionism but rather to a public-health safeguard.

Inside the early-warning dashboard

Every morning, Infarmed analysts sift through data from wholesalers, pharmacies, hospitals and marketing-authorisation holders. The platform flags sudden demand spikes, manufacturing disruptions or abrupt withdrawals. Since 2019, that surveillance grid has been connected to a wider European network overseen by the EMA and the European Commission, allowing Lisbon to compare notes with Paris, Berlin or Madrid in near real time. When a product crosses the internal risk threshold, its outbound flow can be frozen within hours—a power used on a rolling monthly basis and subject to judicial review.

Voices from the supply chain

Distributors complain that an ever-changing embargo list complicates route planning, while pharmacists welcome what they call a “safety valve” against parallel trade. At a recent congress of the Associação de Distribuidores Farmacêuticos, Infarmed board member Érica Viegas argued that the country cannot remain passive when “the same pallet needed in Coimbra is being loaded onto a truck bound for Scandinavia.” Industry groups counter that chronic underpricing of generics in Portugal pushes firms to prioritise higher-margin markets abroad, urging the government to address price misalignment instead of tightening export controls.

What patients can expect this winter

For most citizens the measure should translate into shorter waits at the counter. Infarmed says current warehouse reserves cover, on average, six weeks of national consumption for the drugs on the list. Doctors are nevertheless advising chronic patients to renew prescriptions early, particularly those on complex oncology or neurological regimens, to avoid last-minute surprises. The regulator has also activated a hotline where clinicians can request emergency deliveries if local stocks run low.

Reform of the export rulebook

February’s overhaul of the medicines-export decree trimmed red tape for manufacturers but placed heavier reporting duties on wholesale traders, who must now keep a compulsory one-month safety stock and log every planned shipment. The November action is the fourth major clamp-down this year and, according to Infarmed, proof that the updated framework is agile enough to respond to sudden shocks. Even so, health economists warn that recurring bans point to deeper vulnerabilities, from limited manufacturing capacity in Europe to geopolitical tensions that jeopardise the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients sourced from Asia.

With winter viruses looming and consumption patterns hard to predict, Portuguese regulators appear determined to err on the side of caution. Whether the country can move beyond crisis management and toward a more resilient drug supply remains the question patients, pharmacists and policymakers will be asking long after this month’s 60 products are allowed back onto outbound lorries.