Paphos People

In total 130 innovative drugs will be added in the national health scheme (Gesy) by the end of January, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela said on Tuesday.

The minister said he has requested the pharmaceutical advisory committee and the health insurance organisation (HIO) to include the innovative medicines to benefit patients.

“We cannot have our patients be second-class citizens and not have access to these innovative medicines,” he said during his visit at the Monadika Hamogela NGO for rare diseases.

The HIO was given enough time to integrate these drugs in the system so “there are no more excuses” Hadjinatela said, noting the deadline for the drugs’ inclusion was set for January 31. This will be communicated in writing by the ministry later on Tuesday.

If the deadline is not met, Hadjipantela said the health ministry will issue another instruction for their inclusion.

He added that he has been notified of some things that were ‘absurd’ concerning the approval process of those drugs. He explained that doctors on the drug committee for named claims for drugs excluded from the list of reimbursed medicines approve the claims immediately. However, when the same doctors on the drugs advisory committee in another organisation claim for the same drugs, those arrive after several months.

The instructions that will be given to the HIO on Tuesday, include that whenever a new drug is integrated into the health system, the health ministry and the federation of Cyprus patients’ association (Osak) will be informed.

Earlier this year, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) ranked Cyprus 23rd among 39 countries in Europe on patient accessibility to innovative medicines for the period 2017-2020.

According to the EFPIA, the island has just 45 out of a total of 160 innovative medicines approved and available to the public, while the average is 74 out of 160 medicinal products being available, that is 46 per cent.

Over the summer, MPs in the house health committee piled pressure on the health insurance organisation (HIO) to address patients’ concerns over pharmaceuticals offered through the general health scheme (Gesy).

The issue of innovative drugs is handled by a special committee that was set up in 2016 before Gesy. This committee, which operates under the permanent secretary of the health ministry and reviews requests for innovative drugs, has seen its budget soar from €3m in 2016 to €80m in 2022.

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

And certainly with the innovative drugs not being named in the item it leaves open the further experimentation on the population.

Drugs is not what is required but genuine remedy of the problems.

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

I haven't come across the term 'innovative drugs' so I asked Google:

What are innovative drugs?

A medicine that contains an active substance or combination of active substances that has not been authorised before.

Well go figure, there will still be the queues of the righteous to be injected. History teaches nothing to the indoctrinated.

_________________
Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

Aren't innovative drugs just recently developed (and fully tested) drugs that are new to the market?

Some recent notable types of innovative drugs


Autoimmune/Immunology (A&I)
Crohn’s Disease
Myasthenia Gravis (MG)
Psoriasis
Ulcerative Colitis (UC)

Precision oncology therapies
Many of the precision oncology drugs that won FDA approval in 2020 were structurally novel.

Some of these drugs were ‘pioneers’ — that is, their molecular shape and scaffold hasn’t been used in previously approved drugs.

Notable examples of those drugs include the following:

Orgovyx (relugolix) from Myovant Sciences (NYSE:MYOV) is the first precision oral treatment for advanced prostate cancer patients. An oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist, Orgovyx was the subject of an international Phase 3 trial involving 934 patients with androgen-sensitive advanced prostate cancer.
Pemazyre (pemigatinib), developed by Innovent Biologics, is the first targeted treatment for patients with cholangiocarcinoma, a bile duct cancer. The kinase inhibitor is indicated for bile duct cancer patients with a mutation in the FGFR2 gene who have had previously unsuccessful chemotherapy.

These new drug launches represent new drug classes, major changes to standards of care, and/or large market opportunities across the wide range of indications

Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant
Cervical Cancer
Cervical Dysplasia
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)
Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)
Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL)
Follicular Lymphoma (FL)
Gastric Cancer
Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL)
Marginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL)
Melanoma
Multiple Myeloma (MM)
Myelofibrosis (MF)
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS)
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Ovarian Cancer
Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma (PTCL)
Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease
Prostate Cancer
Uveal Melanoma

Tabrecta (capmatinib) is the first targeted treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer that have a mutation leading to mesenchymal-epithelial transition exon 14 skipping. Licensed to Novartis (NYSE: NVS) by Incyte (NSDQ:INCY), Tabrecta previously won Breakthrough Therapy Designation from FDA.

Gene-specific therapies
“Structurally novel drugs were also the source of multiple approved gene-specific therapies,” Wills said. Two examples include the following:

Evrysdi (risdiplam) from Roche (SWX:RO) is the third drug and the first oral drug approved to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a rare and often fatal genetic disease affecting muscle strength and movement. The drug is indicated for adults and children two months and older. The drug is an orally administered liquid.
Retevmo (selpercatinib) from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is the first therapy for patients with lung and thyroid cancers with rearranged during transfection (RET) gene alterations. FDA approved the drug under its Accelerated Approval regulations.

_________________
Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”