Irish pharma trade group takes issue with allegations of high drug costs

Drug costs in the Republic of Ireland have risen inexorably in recent times to the point where the State's spend on pharmaceuticals is among the highest in Europe, claimed a recent editorial in the Irish Times, which has raised the hackles of the trade group the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA).

Between 1997 and 2007, the annual cost of drugs under the community drugs schemes reached 1.74 billion euros ($2.72 billion), a 500 % increase, the editorial claimed. This level of growth was unsustainable and the announcement by the Minister for Health of drug cost savings [whereby the prices of long-established prescription medicines were slashed 40%by IPHA member companies to create savings for patients of as much as 500 euros a year; The Pharma Letter February 3] is therefore most welcome, the editorial stated.

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