Domestic Drug Manufacturers are supplying price-competitive biological drugs to the Polish market. They have revolutionized medicine, as they have proven effective in treating diseases we previously could not cope with.
The first biologic drugs were recombinant human growth hormone, recombinant insulins and small-molecule heparins. In the mid-1980s, the first monoclonal antibodies appeared, thanks to which many cancers turned from fatal diseases into chronic ones, rheumatic disease sufferers did not become invalids, patients with inflammatory bowel diseases returned to normal life, and patients with severe forms of psoriasis had their skin lesions recede.
Companies marketing new biologic drugs enjoy a market monopoly for about 20 years. Once the patent protection and monopoly expire, other manufacturers start producing these drugs. Competition in the market significantly reduces their prices, by up to 80%. Between 2006 and 2023, the European Medicines Agency has registered nearly 80 biological drugs competing on price against 17 whose market exclusivity has expired. On average, there were four competitors for every one losing monopoly drug. And the more competition in the market, the greater the price drop, benefiting patients and health systems.
However, in Poland, despite price reductions of up to 80%, the availability of biological therapies is several times lower than in other EU countries. Biological treatment in our country is available only in drug programs in hospitals. And due to the excessive burden on hospitals, increasing the number of treated patients is becoming impossible. Therefore, these therapies should also be made available in outpatient clinics. This will improve the comfort of patients' lives, as they will not have to travel to hospitals that are often hundreds of kilometers away just to administer the drug.
Biological Medicines for Poland together with Prof. Brigid Kwiatkowska, national consultant in the field of rheumatology, and Violetta Zajk, president of the association of patients with rheumatological diseases 3majamy się razem appeal to the Ministry of Health to make biological medicines available in outpatient clinics, presenting a proposal for solutions to make such changes possible.
Biological Drugs for Poland also seeks to ensure that as many funds as possible are translated into the development of biological drug production in Poland as part of the Government's Biomedical Sector Development Plan for 2022-2031.
Source: PZPPF
