It took us nearly a month to catch The Head of Norameda’s Onko&Hospital Unit, Anton Gonak, for a short interview. While others are planning the holidays, his Unit is preparing to launch the new product and has other unexpected challenges.
“We have a new medicine for breast cancer by our long-standing partner, and we are working hard on the launch: planning a marketing campaign, dealing with wholesalers and pharmacies,” says A. Gonak.
And that’s just a tiny part of what this Unit has to deal with now. Lithuanian pharmaceutical market is waiting with bated breath for the new price list for reimbursed medicines, which will enter into force this July.
“There is a fundamental change in the way prices are calculated. And there are many surprises in store,” says A. Gonak.
The country’s medicines policy is moving towards significant price reduction. The Ministry of Health has changed the methodology for calculating the price of reimbursed medicines to include costs for medications from larger countries. Prices there are lower because of the market size, i.e., pharmaceutical companies are selling more for a lower price.
“The Lithuanian market is quite small and limited. Drug manufacturers are already reluctant to trade here. Despite that, nobody expected such a price drop, and it is difficult to predict the effect”, says A. Gonak.
Norameda’s Onko&Hospital Unit is facing the challenge of ensuring adequate supply to the Lithuanian market and meeting its commitments to patients, doctors, and hospitals. Especially when the costs for medicine manufacturers are rising, and it is reflected in the final product price.
“It is possible that due to increased production costs, reduced prices and a limited market, we will face shortages of certain medicines because nobody is willing to sell at lower-than-cost price”, says A. Gonak.
According to the Head of Norameda’s Onko&Hospital Unit, in addition, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are still being felt there is a shortage of packaging materials – cardboard, plastic, and tablet foil. The war in Ukraine has also led to a lack of certain medicines, such as antibiotics or some drugs for treating viral and bacterial diseases.
And though the Unit results of the first two quarters of the year were better than planned by nine per cent, predicting the two to come is very difficult.
“One thing I can say for sure is that we always keep our word and will stand by our commitments. Our patients will have all the necessary treatment”, reassures A. Gonak.