Skopje, 10 March 2023 (MIA) – At a Parliament session scheduled for March 16, legal amendments which will enable direct negotiations for the purchase of medications with a single manufacturer that has patented the medication will be on the agenda. This is initiated so that the Trikafta medication can be purchased straight from the manufacturer for patients afflicted with cystic fibrosis, but it will also apply to other medications with a single manufacturer, according to Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

He said that this will enable us quicker and cheaper access to such medications with a single manufacturer that couldn’t be purchased directly until now, which is a possibility many other countries have.

“Given that this is a single-manufacturer patented medication, I have suggested legal amendments to Parliament. We’ve scheduled a session for March 16 and I believe that all MPs will back it. Our laws don’t allow for direct purchasing from manufacturers with patented medications, we had to go through public procurements and medication suppliers, which additionally increased the price of medications. We’ve started amending the legal regulation and preparing legal solutions that will allow the patients to get their medication as soon as possible so that we can directly negotiate with the manufacturer in order to get a better price,” Kovachevski said in response to a reporter’s question at Friday's press-conference.

He noted that direct communication with a single manufacturer allows for patient statistics which enables the Ministry of Health of the purchasing country to plan purchases according to the data.

Kovachevski said that EUR 2.2 million have been approved, and the Ministry of Health, the Healthcare Fund and Kovachevski’s Cabinet have coordinated on the purchase.

“Given that the drug manufacturer has achieved a lower price in terms of amounts per drug, we have space for more patients to get the drug at that price. The application has started for batches that have been delivered already,” the PM added. dk/nn/

Photo: MIA archive