Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 23 April 2015

Public Accounts Committee

2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 14 - Procurement by the Health Service Executive
Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2013

10:00 am

Mr. Tony O'Brien:

No. Reference pricing references the branded price, broadly speaking, down to the generic level also but not where there is no bio-similar. In the case of a brand new drug, in respect of which there is no capacity for anybody else to produce something that does the same job pharmaceutically speaking, then reference pricing is not an issue. Once there is a capacity to reference against bio-similars it is beyond the protected patent period. Even in respect of the branded drugs we will only reimburse at the reference price level.

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