Approved new medicines should be available to public patients within 180 days of a HSE cost assessment decision, a conference on access to new drugs has heard today.
The new access system is to be phased in over the next three years as part of an agreement between the State and the pharmaceutical industry.
Today's conference in the RDS in Dublin heard that over the last 10 years, it has been taking an average of 600 days for new medicines to become available to public patients.
Brenda Dooley, Chief Executive of Axis Consulting, which organised the meeting, said that for patients, speed of access to new drugs is personal.
She also said that Ireland needs to be seen as a country where companies choose to launch new medicines and where Ireland is seen as a credible launch country.
A new agreement between the State and pharmaceutical industry aims to have new approved drugs, available to public patients, within 180 days of a HSE cost-effectiveness assessment, by 2029.
The timescale will be reduced to 180 days on a phased basis.
Finite budget for drugs
Michael Barry, Clinical Director of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, which assesses new medicines for the HSE for cost effectiveness, said that the budget for drugs is finite.
He said the system is trying to balance the spending of taxpayers' money and patient access to new medicines to drugs that really work.
Miriam Staunton, Chairperson of United Cancer Advocates Network Ireland, said she welcomed the intent to get to the 180-day target but that it was still a number of years off.
She said that the 180 days refers to the State responsibility and also the pharmaceutical company responsibility for applying for a drug to be covered by the public health system, and providing all of the necessary information the State needs to make the decision.
The pharmaceutical industry involved in developing innovative drugs has said that around 32 new medicines could be made available this year, covering areas like heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
The medicines bill to the State is over €4 billion a year.
