Ahead of polling day, Medicines for Ireland (MFI) warmly welcomes the inclusion of several of its key priorities in the manifestos and policy papers of Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, and Labour, all of which have committed to promoting the use of generic and biosimilar medicines.
As an organisation, MFI’s core objective is to improve how Ireland procures and supplies medicines to expand patient access to affordable, lifesaving, and life-enhancing treatment. While there are obstacles to achieving that objective, MFI believes they can be overcome through cooperation with political stakeholders.
Earlier this month, MFI launched its General Election Manifesto, calling on all political parties to prioritise investing in generic, biosimilar, and value-added medicines and the systems that deliver value for patients and the State. MFI has been actively engaging with political stakeholders to highlight the critical importance of a resilient and sustainable generics, biosimilars, and value-added medicines industry, especially considering rising medicine costs, an ageing population, and the increasing burden of chronic diseases.
Noting the policy commitments, MFI Chair Paul Neill commented, “We are encouraged to see our calls reflected in political manifestos, demonstrating a clear commitment to improving the accessibility and sustainability of generic and biosimilar medicines. We know that Ireland is behind our EU counterparts when it comes to the availability of off-patent medicines to patients. There are many reasons for that lag, including the relatively unfavourable local environment for early generic launch, reduced price entry point, downward-only pricing structures, and lengthy timelines for price uplifts for unviable products. These factors have an overall impact on the attractiveness of the Irish market for manufacturers and lead to less competition and availability of medicines within the market. It is timely to have these discussions ahead of the negotiations on the new Framework Agreement that will allow us to address many of these challenges.”
Paul concluded, “We are encouraged to see that the majority of political parties want to see increased use of off-patent medicines, and we are committed to working with them to deliver better value for patients and the State while ensuring the healthcare system is equipped to meet future challenges.”
Vice Chair Deirdre Kelly commented, “We are pleased to see a reference to improving the use of technology within the healthcare sector, specifically in relation to patient records and e-prescribing, in many of the party’s manifestos. We want to work with the political parties to expand further on these commitments to move away from outdated systems for direct healthcare professional communications (DCHP), which require each market authorisation holder (MAH) to produce the same information pack for each medicine they supply for every healthcare professional (HCP), which would also significantly reduce the industry’s environmental impact.”
MFI encourages all parties to harness the opportunities provided by generic, biosimilar and value-added medicines ensuring long-term accessibility and affordability of medicines for patients and the State.
With MFI members supplying the majority of medicine in Ireland to the HSE and patients directly, we are committed to effecting real change and reforms that guarantee patients have access to the medicines they need at affordable prices. MFI will continue collaborating with political representatives to deliver policy reform that can help solve the industry’s challenges while ensuring patients have access to affordable, life-changing medicines.
