Access to medicines
Shire takes seriously the challenges which many patients face in gaining access to the medicines they need. Cost is the most obvious issue because there are many people across the world who cannot afford to buy the medicines they need. In some countries there can often be wider issues about obtaining supplies. This is a particular concern for us, because so many of our treatments are for rare diseases, where the number of patients can be very small.
We have one scheme in the US covering all the treatments sold by our Specialty Pharmaceuticals business, called Shire Cares and the equivalent in Human Genetic Therapies in the US is called OnePath. Both offer financial and other support for patients, families and healthcare providers who might not otherwise be able to access our therapies.
Outside the US, we also have a number of pre-approval schemes that use existing legal and regulatory mechanisms to give patients access to new drugs. These are called ‘Named Patient Supply Programs’ because they offer access to treatments for specific patients, where a drug has not obtained regulatory approval in that market.
We were one of the first companies in the pharmaceutical industry to provide assistance for recently unemployed patients in the US.
We also own the rights to lamivudine, an antiviral treatment for HIV/AIDS, but take no royalty payments from this drug in Southern Africa where the medication is provided for free, and where the people affected are some of the poorest in the world.
Achievements in 2010
- 24,000 patients were helped by Shire Cares last year in the US.
- Our Human Genetic Therapies business provided access to medicine for hundreds of people around the world living with rare genetic conditions such as Fabry disease, Gaucher disease, Hunter syndrome, and Hereditary Angioedema. We launched a new ‘co-pay program’ covering these treatments for patients in the US.
Commitments for 2011
- Strive to make our Access to Medicines Programs more effective in meeting the needs of patients who depend on our support.
- Provide regular updates on how we’re improving these programmes and their impact on the lives of patients benefiting from them.
Important Links
My perspective from Commercial Operations helps me to remind the team about how crucial our engagement is with our customers, including patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and payers.
Craig Lewis
SVP, Global Business Insights and Commercial Operations
