Chain to cut drug prices by average of 25%

THE 10 MOST expensive prescription drugs in the Republic’s biggest pharmacy chain are to fall in price by an average of 25 per cent. This will save people on medications for conditions including asthma and heart disease up to €300 a year.

The savings are the result of a dramatic overhaul of the Boots Ireland pricing model. It has abandoned the traditional 50 per cent mark-up that pharmacists add to the cost price of a drug on top of a €5 dispensing fee, in favour of a single €7 “professional services fee” that will be added to the cost price of drugs.

Industry sources said last night the move is likely to spark a prescription drug price war with other chains forced to follow suit.

According to Boots, a person with asthma who pays €95 a month for drugs will see the cost drop to just over €70, a saving of €290 a year. Monthly costs for a person with high blood pressure and cholesterol will fall from €77 to €66, an annual saving of nearly €150.

Boots Ireland pharmacy director Mary Rose Burke told The Irish Times last night that the chain had been through two world wars and several depressions over the course of its history and was well-used to adjusting its pricing models to reflect changed realities. She said it had carried out “a complete and comprehensive review of private prescriptions” in the Republic and “responded to customer pressure” on pricing.

She said it was the first pharmacy retailer in Ireland to announce “a commitment to delivering a clear and transparent pricing structure that will also result in significant savings for Boots Ireland customers”.

She accepted that the changes would see “marginal increases at the lower end” because the cost price of some older drugs is low, but added that such drugs tended to be for occasional use and the price shifts would be insignificant.

Pharmacists predicted that other chains doing business in the Republic would have to respond.

The Irish Pharmacy Union said the move underlined the competitive nature of the Irish pharmacy sector and claimed that the price of drugs had fallen dramatically in recent years, with many high-volume medicines coming off patent.