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Mayo Clinic joins a consortium of US health systems to create a non-profit corporation that will manufacture generic drugs to reduce prices and eliminate drug shortages as a unique "social asset" organization in Canada. his genre.
The membership organization, based in Utah, calls Civica Rx. If successful, this could enable patients and their health care providers to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The vision, announced for the first time in January, is a vision that one of its architects calls "a free market solution to everyday life".
Dan Liljenquist, Senior Vice President and Strategy Director at Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City, said hospitals are seeing a shortage of more than 200 popular generic drugs every day. This means that hospitals can not always find the drugs that patients desperately need and the prices of the drug can vary enormously.
The simple goals of Civica RX are to stabilize the supply of generic drugs and reduce prices without the need to generate a profit for shareholders or owners.
"When we say that we are trying to create a single societal asset, we are just hearing that, and that society will be exploited for the benefit of society in general," said Liljenquist. "This is as much about social justice as everyone else.It's not okay what's happening on the market."
The scope of the project is vast. The Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School reports that 80% of all prescription drugs are generic. And when generic drugs are available, they are chosen 94% of the time on more expensive brand name drugs.
Drug patents typically last about 20 years. When the patents come to an end, the ingredients become available to the generic companies who can then submit their own versions of the drugs.
The Mayo Clinic recently joined the Civica Rx project, which includes seven major US health organizations representing approximately 500 hospitals to date, as well as the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The hope is to add many medical providers of all sizes as members.
"This initiative demonstrates the need for collaboration to address today's most complex health issues, and I am pleased to see our collective commitment to improving the health and well-being of millions of patients is reflected in this initiative. initiative, "said John Noseworthy, CEO of the Mayo Clinic, in a press release regarding Civica RX.
Initial governing members include Intermountain, Mayo Clinic, Catholic Health Initiatives, Hospital Corporation of America, Providence St. Joseph Health, SSM Health and Trinity Health.
The launch of this new organization will cost members approximately $ 200 million.
Civica Rx's CEO, Martin VanTrieste, was formerly Quality Manager at Amgen Inc. He agreed to serve without any compensation or remuneration.
"The fact that one third of the country's hospitals are either interested or committed to participating with Civica Rx shows a great need for this initiative.This will improve the situation of patients by introducing much needed competition in the generic market. "said VanTrieste. I said.
As an organization approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Civica RX will manufacture generic drugs directly or outsource manufacturing as most generic companies do.
Civica Rx has already identified 14 generic drugs administered by hospitals. Citing exclusive concerns and potential competition for other companies, Liljenquist declined to name these drugs. The organizers previously said that they would focus on drugs whose prices have risen sharply and / or often are rare.
The hope is to have the first drugs on the market by mid-2019. It is estimated that generics could sell between 20 and 30 percent below current prices.
Liljenquist explained that Civica Rx will create a fair and transparent source for medicines.
This means that a large contract to purchase a million units of medication will receive the same rate as a small clinic buying only 100 units.
"The volume does not matter … Everyone will have its fair share of the product," said Liljenquist. "We will not play favorites."
A key factor of the membership model is that contracts are being finalized even before drugs are manufactured.
Although the objectives of Civica Rx are noble, could the organization be hijacked by someone who wants to take advantage of the market and make significant profits?
"It's virtually impossible to monetize the business to make it a profit-making entity," Liljenquist said.
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