Cost of basket of prescription drugs down 60% in last three years

The cost of a basket of prescription drugs in the Republic has fallen by almost 60 per cent in the last three years, saving taxpayers and consumers up to €365 million.

An analysis of prescription drugs sold in pharmacies to be published Thursday shows that from October 2013 to July 2016 the average price fell from €13.52 to €5.64, a decrease of 58 per cent.

Published by research consultancy Health Market Research (HMR) Ireland, the figures track the impact of the Health Service Executive's contested decision to change pricing rules from October 2013.

Under the system a list of commonly used drugs was drawn up and cheaper generic drugs were allowed to be swapped for more expensive branded versions of the same chemical compounds.

The policy shift brought €95 million worth of savings up to the end of 2014, and a further decrease of €160 million in 2015 as more drugs were brought into the net.

A decline of €101 million was recorded up to the end of July this year.

The Prescription Market Index, which questioned more than 1,000 pharmacists anonymously, found that pharmacies saw revenues fall €198,000 between October 2013 and July 2016.

"The reduction in the average price of these prescription medicines is good news for patients and consumers," Filipe Infante of HMR Ireland told The Irish Times.

Balance

“The biggest challenge is to find the correct balance that assures industry in the future can continue to deliver new innovative medicines to patients, assures that pharmacies deliver the best possible service to their patients, and that government can manage a sustainable health budget.”

According to the index, the total value of the prescription market was €1.7 billion in the 12 months to October 2016. Total sales in the prescription market in October 2016 were €140 million. This represented a growth of 2.2 per cent in value but a fall of 1.1 per cent in units (volume) when compared to the same month last year.

“There has been dramatic reductions in price in recent years thanks to reference pricing, something we called for more than 10 years ago,” said the director of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics Dr Michael Barry.

“The price of some medicines has fallen 14 fold in the last 10 years. A year’s supply of statins could have cost someone €440 a decade ago, whereas now the price is around €3 a month.”