The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the College of Mental Health Pharmacists (CMHP) have written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as part of a consultation regarding the supply of Priadel, the lithium medication used by bipolar patients.
It comes following a campaign by the RPS, other royal colleges and patient groups which helped establish a new, low price for Priadel agreed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the drug manufacturer, Essential Pharma.
The letter asks for clarification on what will happen after the new price agreement contract expires for Priadel and calls for new regulatory changes to be put in place.
Sandra Gidley, President of the RPS said:
“We welcome the responsiveness of the CMA to the concerns that we’ve raised on the availability of Priadel. It is essential that we now get clarity on the drug’s long-term future, particularly regarding what will happen once this new price contract ends after the 5-year agreement. There has to be legislative changes made that will prevent other companies from exploiting patients and ensure that something like this will not happen again.”
Ciara Ni Dhubhlaing, President of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy, said:
“We cannot allow patient access to Priadel to be restricted in the future. This will mean thousands of vulnerable individuals are unnecessarily put at risk. It is vital that patients have confidence in the supply chain and ongoing access to their medicines; therefore more needs to be done to ensure the availability of this essential medicine continues.”