Medicine

The medicine market can be complex. This is why you depend on your pharmacist being skilled in giving you advice when you buy your medicine. You need information about the medicine and alternatives – and we would like to help you here.

You can always find the most recently updated version of the patient information leaflet via the following link: Patient information leaflet

Where does the medicine come from?

2care4 is involved in parallel import of pharmaceuticals because we believe that you as a consumer have the right to buy medicine at competitive prices. We make sure to buy the medicine from countries where producers sell it at lower prices than would be the case in Denmark. This means you get the same type of medicine at a price that is possible to pay.

No Difference Between Products

There is no difference between parallel imported pharmaceuticals and original pharmaceuticals. You will often see that the medicine is repackaged in a new, Danish-language box or that labels with Danish text are attached to the original box.

Parallel import of medicine involves importing the original medicine from another EU/EEA country and then selling it in Denmark on par with the original manufacturer’s Danish packages. We buy the medicine from wholesalers abroad who have been approved by the medicines agency in the respective sourcing country.

All pharmaceuticals that are imported and distributed must be approved by the local medicines agency, Lægemiddelstyrelsen in Denmark or the central EMA (European Medicines Agency).

Prices of Medicine

In Denmark, the price of medicine changes every fourteen days. The reason for this is that all medicines are offered to pharmacies through a system known as Taksten (the Tariff). For you, it means that for the next fourteen days, the lowest-priced supplier is allowed to sell their pharmaceutical, and, if a pharmacy runs out of this product, it will offer you the second-cheapest product.

For you, this also means that we have very low prices of medicine in Denmark compared to the countries which we usually compare ourselves to. You will often see that packaging and medicine might look different from one tender period to the next. The difference may be the colour, size of tablet, box, etc., but the medicine you are offered always has the same pharmaceutical effect.

You can see the prices at Medicinpriser.

Why does the medicine look different?

When medicine is to be parallel imported, the parallel importer initiates the process by applying for permission from the Danish Health Authorities. They review the application, and, if the medicine is pharmacologically identical, they will issue a permit. The importer simultaneously receives approval from the Danish Health Authority for Danish-language packaging and leaflets, etc.

At this point import and repackaging begins, monitored by the Danish Health Authority and in accordance with EU legislation which is applicable to all pharmaceutical companies. 2care4 prefers to put the imported medicine in new boxes with Danish text. The pharmaceutical manufacturers must approve any repackaging in order to ensure their trademarks are not violated.

In cases where we are allowed to put the medicine in new boxes, we do. Due to current legislation we cannot do much on box design. For instance, we are not allowed to use many colors or put our own logo on the box. This is the reason that some of your medicine comes in rather bland packaging.

In cases where the manufacturer does not allow a new box, we put information in Danish on the original packaging in the form of labels – up to three or four labels on the same box. In these cases, you get a box that is a combination of the original colours, logos and so on, as well as 2care4’s labels. In order to make the labels readable for you, we spend much time placing our labels as correctly as possible.