Just 14 out of 56 new life-saving cancer medicines available to Irish patients

Just 14 out of 56 new cancer treatments that have been licensed since 2020 are unavailable in Ireland, according to the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA).

This puts Ireland as having the lowest availability for new cancer treatments in Western Europe behind countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, among others.

The IPHA has cited the findings from a study for the European pharmaceutical body EFPIA which shows Irish patients wait considerably longer for access to life-enhancing new treatments and medicines compared to their peers across most of Europe.

The survey of 36 countries in Europe covered the years from 2020 to 2023 analysing over 170 new and innovative cancer medicines that were authorised for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Irish cancer patients face long waiting times of almost 2 years to access new medication that has been authorised by the EMA.

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IPHA Chief Executive Oliver O'Conner has said these wait times are 55 days longer than last year and above the EU average of 586 days.

He went on to say that new framework is needed which could reform the reimbursement system to deliver the new medicines faster, the current framework is due to expire this September.

The United Cancer Advocates Network (UCAN) have said that many Irish patients are affected by the lack of access are might not even be aware of the new life-saving medicines available to them.

The UCAN is calling for an investigation into the early access schemes and a full review of the drugs reimbursement process with a more co-ordinated approach at European level.