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THE IRISH GOVERNMENT wants to work with other EU countries in a bid to drive down the cost of expensive medicines.
Minister for Health Simon Harris today announced that Ireland is to open negotiations with Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria on drug pricing and supply.
Harris will now issue a letter of intent to his counterparts in those four countries formally signalling Ireland’s interest in joining the existing collaboration, known as the BeNeLuxA Initiative.
“I’m delighted that Cabinet has given formal approval for Ireland to open these negotiations and I look forward to working with these countries to explore opportunities to secure affordable access to new medicines for Irish patients, through information sharing and policy exchange.
“In fact I will be travelling to Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming weeks and hope to begin discussions with my Ministerial counterparts in both countries,” said the health minister.
In an interview with TheJournal.ie last year, the minister said he was “exploring options” with other EU countries to see if he can bring down the cost of drugs bought by the state.
As Ireland has a population of over four and a half million people and Europe with 400 million, he said there could be deals to be done.
Securing access to new and innovative medicines, in a manner that’s affordable and sustainable, is one of the minister’s key objectives, he said.
Harris said there is a challenge, not unique to Ireland, to drive down the price tags of some drugs.
“That is why over the past two years my Department has been engaging with other European countries in an effort to identify solutions to medicines pricing, sustainability and supply,” he said.
Harris said working collaboratively with the BeNeLuxA countries “is a concrete step forward”.
“It will allow Ireland to explore opportunities, in an increasingly challenging environment of high pricing of medicines by pharmaceutical companies, to secure sustainable and affordable access for patients to new and innovative medicines,” said Harris.
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New and innovative should be unrolling proper access to medicinal cannabis, CBD and THC treatments but that’d be too inexpensive and untaxable for Blue Shirt Ireland
@Liberal Larry: It should be just legalized out-right and taxed – like alcohol or sugar or caffeine or any other legal drug. Simple.
@Damon16: Cannabis I mean
@Liberal Larry: All drugs should be legalised. It should be up to the consumer as to what they want to consume, good or bad.
@Liberal Larry: All drugs should be legalised. It should be up to the consumer as to what they want to consume, good or bad.
This should be done at European level ! My parents bring their prescriptions to Spain where the same drug is a 1/4 of the price.
@John Judd: Different system there. In Ireland there is a monthly max that you pay for perscription drugs (€160??). In Spain, while each individual perscription is subsidised and so much cheaper, there is no maximum price you pay. Different system, swings and roundabouts.
@John Judd: or the North where the girl at chemist in enniskillen said 80% of sales are form rep ireland?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: There are no swings and roundabouts here. The pharmaceutical companies have the government by the short and curlies and can charge the earth for drugs. They threaten to go elsewhere if the government complain about the extortionate prices so the best they came up with was the drug refund scheme. The Spanish don’t allow themselves to be dictated to by the drug companies because they don’t have the holy grail of 12.5% corporate tax.
Now how about returning the supply of Versatis patches for people with chronic pain. No excuses or waffle please.
@Johnny Bellew: unless I’ve missed it the journal is very quiet on the subject which is dominating Joe Duffy every day now. That Simon Harris is too arrogant for words.
@Johnny Bellew:
Yes, people are suffering horrendous pain over the withdrawal of these patches Mr.Harris, 56 in Kilkenny, 200 in Dublin, 80 in Wexford, 65 in Galway, 40 in Sligo, 52 in Kerry etc,etc, do you get my drift.
Repeal the Versatis Patches fiasco.
Mr. Harris ,listen to people’s pain.
And how will R&D be paid for? About 8 out of 10 drugs don’t make it to market, the two successful drugs have to pay for all the research into the other 8.
And then there is a 25 year limit on patent.
@Fran Lonergan: what that got to do with it? These are drugs that we are already buying at a dearer price are they not?
@Fran Lonergan: Some of the most ridiculous pricing comes from companies who don’t engage in any research at all, not all expensive drugs are still under patent
this is especially true of less common drugs, where there may only be one manufacturing facility – and it’s pretty much a monopoly of supply.
Here’s an example, for instance
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/nhs-drug-overcharging-concordia-thyroid-million-of-pounds-competition-markets-authority-a8066586.html
The US finance guy Martin Shkreli did similar with a drug he bought rights to – again, it was out of patent, but it was a niche product. He raised the price by 5000%. His company Turing Pharmaceuticals was set up specifically to profit from out of patent drugs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_Pharmaceuticals
@@muirinho:
I understand that, Goserelin is labour intensive and technically challenging to manufacture, that although the patent has expired, very few generic manufacturers will touch it. One or two have tried. But these are the exceptions.
@Fran Lonergan: If the general public got over themselves and stopped demanding their doctors prescribe brand name drugs over generic alternatives, then the money saved could be used to pay for the new, innovative drugs. The amount of out of patent brand name drugs being prescribed is ludicrous, especially when you consider that the generic versions are EXACTLY the same drug and can be sourced at a discount over the branded version of usually around 50%, and in some cases up to 90%. Very little can be done about the cost of new drugs, especially if they are intended for relatively rare ailments. The drugs companies need to recoup their R&D costs, plus make a profit for shareholders, and they have to do it within the lifetime of the drugs patent which averages about 20years.
@Fran Lonergan: it’s 20 years from date of first patent. It’s then usually 10-12 years to market leaving 8-10 years to recuperate costs. Average cost of getting a new molecule to market is between 1 and 1 and a half billion dollars.
@Batster:
I think this is why there has been so little investment in developing new antibiotics. Return on investment is much more lucrative for a statins or proton pump inhibitors.
@Fran Lonergan: I think that as a society we’re not grown up enough to understand that calculus. We don’t even grasp what the current model has done. Today you could start a generics company, and buy for buttons an entire medicine cabinet that 25 years ago couldn’t be had at any price. Somehow this is a crisis.
Lots of people can be persuaded to drop a grand on a new iPhone, made for a fraction of that by Chinese serfs, but the same for a new life changing drug is regarded as exploitative and immoral. Pharma is in terminal decline, but even when it’s gone most people won’t figure out why.
@Dermot Lane: immigran 4 tabs here 52e 11ein spain
Very simple solution to cut drug costs: Don’t buy any. There are always alternatives. And even when there’s not, use cannabis oil. Way more effective and less toxic. All prescription drugs are liver toxic. If you don’t believe me, research MR50 lab trials of toxicology testing and how the 50% mortality rate is achieved.
@Ian Oh: That is an amazing amount of BS in one comment.
@Ian Oh: oh wow….
@Ian Oh:
Versatils Patches do not enter the blood stream.
There’s a far deeper discussion required. We are facilitating pharmacy companies to avoid taxes in their own countries. On top of that, we are actually giving them money for establishing manufacturing facilities – money that they can easily afford themselves.
On top of that again, we see again today that a facility gets closed for a short period, and suddenly resurrects in the same premises, and gets more supports.
And these companies tell Harris, Harney, Varadkar, Martin, Reilly over the years that we must pay extortionate prices or they will leave. Absolute bull. Ransom, but facilitated by clowns we can TDs
Big deal why was this not done earlier
Sustainable or affordable? Pick one.
have your say