Finland saves as some drug prices drop 98%

Finland’s public healthcare system is seeking to increase its use of generic medicines to create financial savings.

Most individuals in Finland do not pay full worth for his or her medication. Benefits company Kela’s ceiling for out-of-pocket medicines is round 600 euros yearly. This means taxpayers foot the invoice for the remaining, which is why the lapsing of drug patents makes a large distinction within the state’s drug outlays.

In April the worth of most cancers drug lenalidomide dropped from 5,700 euros a package deal to 150, following the expiry of the US producer’s patent of the drugs it marketed below the identify Revlimid.

Drug patents are sometimes legitimate for 20 years after invention.

Generic alternate options have been instantly accessible in Kela’s reference worth system, which favours the least costly alternate options. The system reimburses sufferers in response to the most affordable accessible medicine.

“In euro terms the price reduction was exceptionally big,” mentioned Terhi Kurko, a senior researcher at Kela.

The company has calculated that generic alternate options for lenalidomide alone can save Finland as much as 40 million euros a 12 months.

Kurko mentioned Finland may doubtlessly save tens of hundreds of thousands extra yearly have been biosimilar medicine in broader use. Biosimilars operate like model identify biologics used to deal with most cancers by utilizing yeast, micro organism, or animal cells.

That mentioned, Finland is now eyeing biosimilar medicine for his or her money-saving potential. Prime Minister Sanna Marin‘s (SDP) authorities is planning to make use of cash saved on medicine for hiring extra healthcare employees to satisfy extra stringent nursing quotas.

“Finland lags far behind the other Nordics when it comes to outpatient use of biosimilars,” mentioned Heikki Bothas of the Finnish Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

He mentioned it was unsustainable for society to pay for model identify medicine when cheaper alternate options can be found.

“Half of rheumatism patients, for example, use a brand name drug when a cheaper biosimilar is available. If everyone switched to a more affordable biosimilar alternative, savings would total 17 million euros annually,” he defined.

Last month the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health arrange a working group to analyze increasing using biosimilar remedy.

While Finland can anticipate financial savings within the remedy of some diseases as patents expire, the nation continues to spend extra money on medicine yearly. Costs are rising as new therapies develop into accessible for uncommon ailments.