Skopje, 16 March 2023 (MIA) – The Trikafta drug, which has already been delivered to the most critical patients, will be available to all other patients who need it after voting on the legal amendments in Parliamentary procedure, according to PM Dimitar Kovachevski.

“We have secured the drug in accordance with the analyses of the Ministry of Healthcare, primarily the Clinic of Children’s Diseases and the Clinic of Pulmonology. They identified eight critical patients, and it’s a good thing the supplier delivered it before he stipulated 30 days that the manufacturer needs to produce it,” Kovachevski said after a visit to a market in Kapishtec.

He underlined that the legal amendments are made because a single manufacturer makes this drug and holds the patent for it.

“Some countries in our surroundings wrote in their laws that drugs made by a single manufacturer are procured directly through expert teams, because if you use mediators, then the price only increases. Professors from the Faculty of Medicine, alongside colleagues from the Healthcare Fund and the Ministry of Health made these amendments. I’m sure they’ll be voted in, and based on that, the Fund and the Ministry can negotiate the procurement of medications for all patients, what list of patients is produced from the clinics that look after these patients’ health, and based on their analyses they know exactly the type of therapy they need,” PM Kovachevski said.

He also pointed out that the price they agreed on is lower than the original, so the drug can be procured for an additional 4 patients alongside the 8 most critical ones.

Kovachevski said that he has already met with the Cystic Fibrosis Association and some parents of children with cystic fibrosis, who were thankful that the drug was obtained in such a short time. dk/sk/