The directors of the Irish arm of pharma giant Roche have stated that there is a need to reduce the lengthy timelines to medicine reimbursement to improve standards of care and outcomes for patients here.
The directors for Roche Products (Ireland) Ltd make the statement in new accounts which show that pre-tax profits at the company increased by 17% to €5.3m in 2023.
This followed revenues increasing by 7% from €116.3m to €124.68m.
The directors state that they are pleased to report that the company "delivered a solid level of sales growth in 2023".
They state that the net overall increase in sales reflects a combination of gains and losses in the sales of different medicines.
On the lengthy timelines in the reimbursement of medicines here, the directors state that "while it takes on average 517 days, post EMA authorisation, to make a new medicine routinely available across European countries, in Ireland it takes 567 days".
The directors do state that they welcome the allocation of €30m for new medicines in Budget 2025.
They state that the medicines will give patients the opportunity to benefit from access to therapeutic advances and give clinicians greater opportunity to improve patients standard of care.
"It is important for doctors to have the right medicine available for prescription for their patients at the right time," they add.
The directors state that they further welcome that an online application track will be launched on the HSE website shortly.
They state that "this will help provide transparency of the reimbursement process and support faster access to new medicines".
The directors declared a dividend of €7m during the year and this followed a dividend of €7m in the prior year.
The company's operating profits decreased by 2% from €4.59m to €4.48m and net interest receivable of €829,000 compared to interest payable of €62,000 in 2022 resulted in the increase in pre-tax profit.
They state that the sales of Ocrevus, for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and Hemlibra, for the treatment of Haemophilia, drove growth in 2023.
Strong growth was also shown with the breast cancer medicines, Perjeta and Kadcyla, and lung cancer medicines, Tecentriq and Alecensa.
The directors also state that cancer medicines Avastin, Herceptin and MabThera, had lower revenues due to the entry of biosimilars in 2022.
They state that "although significant, decreases were in line with expectations".
The company recorded a post tax profit of €4.46m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €849,000.
The company also acts as a regional centre for the implementation of global clinical trial programmes.
Numbers employed by the company reduced from 86 to 85 and staff costs in 2023 increased by 7% from €10.85m to €11.58m.
The aggregate pay package to directors in 2023 increased by 10%, rising from €1.32m to €1.45m made up of salary and bonuses of €844,000, benefits in kind of €548,000 and pension contributions of €63,000.
The company's spend on "travel and entertainment" totalled €629,000 in 2023 which followed a spend of €479,000 under that heading in 2022.
At the end of December 2023, the firm had shareholder funds of €20.05m that included accumulated profits of €17.63m.
