Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Ireland’s established reimbursement process for new medicines involves evaluation by the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) and price negotiation by the Health Service Executive (HSE) Drugs Group. The 2023 Mazars Review concluded that the reimbursement process aligned with international norms but recommended adding 34 staff to accelerate time to reimbursement (TTR). These hires were completed in late 2024. This research examines whether TTR improved in the first half of 2025.
METHODS: We compiled a dataset of all NCPE evaluations from January 2023 to June 2025, including indication, reimbursement status and date. We measured TTR and the number of new medicines and indications reimbursed in three intervals: January-June 2023, 2024, and 2025. TTR was split into the evaluation and price negotiation phases. TTR was measured from the start of the Rapid Review.
RESULTS: The total number of evaluations conducted by the NCPE in 2023, 2024 and the first half of 2025 was 84, 77, and 47 respectively. During the first half of 2023, 2024 and 2025, the number of new medicines and indications reimbursed was 17, 29 and 19 respectively. The corresponding average TTR for these semi-annual periods were 717, 600 and 552 days respectively in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively. The TTR is driven by shorter average evaluation times rather than shorter times in the price negotiation phase.
CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, while the number of drugs reimbursed has slowed in the first half of 2025 compared to previous years, there are signs that the TTR is improving. This suggests early gains from the staffing increase recommended by the Mazars Review. Further improvements in TTR are anticipated as new staff become fully integrated into the reimbursement process.