MADRID, Jan 21 (APM) - Spain has joined other EU members in negotiations for centralised purchase of new hepatitis C agents, its health minister said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Spanish parliament, minister Alfonso Alonso said it is most likely that innovative purchasing formulae such as price per volume, maximum spend thresholds or a risk sharing scheme, will be used to buy these therapies.

“These kind of schemes are our best shot at bringing innovative therapies into the country, hepatitis C drugs and others in the future,” Alonso said in streamed event.

Alonso gave no details on the centralised purchasing scheme Spain has apparently joined and his comments seem to contradict those made by Spanish medical association OMC. It said in a statement on Monday it is “shocking” the EU has not looked to negotiate better prices and each member is acting independently on the matter. (APMMA 41149)

And, in July Spanish, French, UK and German regulators all distanced themselves from the suggestion of the Italian regulator that they were working together to cut the price of Sovaldi. (APMMA 39261)

But according to Alonso, such an approach has shown itself cost/efficient during the Ebola crisis, when a number of EU countries organised a centralised purchase of protective equipment.

Alonso’s comments came as a response to socialist congressman José Martínez Olmos, who asked if any special measures to ensure funds for these treatments had been considered by the government.

“When it comes to getting better prices, the more countries involved, the better off we will be. This is why we rather join other European countries in this effort, instead of putting drugs out to tender in some isolated region like Andalusia is doing,” Alonso said.

Spanish region of Andalusia has launched six drug tenders over the past three years. All of them have been challenged in court by pharma and the Spanish ministry of health. Spanish socialist party PSOE is in office in the region.

Janssen's Olysio (simeprevir), Merck & Co's Victrelis (boceprevir), Gilead's Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), Bristol-Myers Squibb's Daklinza (daclatasvir), Gilead's Harvoni (sofosbuvir+ledipasvir) and AbbVie's Exviera (dasabuvir) and Viekirax (ombitasvir+paritaprevir+ritonavir) have been approved for reimbursement in Spain over the past six months (APMMA 39310) (APMMA 39930) (APMMA 40951).
All of them received the green light under risk-sharing schemes.

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