The Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) has announced that the first cannabis-based products will be available through the Medical Cannabis Access Programme from next month.
In a joint committee meeting held on Wednesday 29 September, CannEpil was announced as the first drug to be made available through the program from mid-October.
Ireland’s Health minister Stephen Donnelly announced funding for the Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP) in January, almost two years since the legislation was signed off in June 2019.
The programme will offer access to cannabis-based medicines to people living with one of three qualifying conditions. These include intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, severe treatment-resistant epilepsy and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) where patients have failed to respond to authorised treatments.
The meeting saw officials from the Department of Health and the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) outline the current state of the MCAP programme and the Ministerial License system.
The suppliers of two products, CannEpil and Tilray are said to have confirmed their prices to the HSE, but Tilray has yet to announce its availability date. Two more cannabis-based products have been added to the schedule but suppliers are not thought to have current plans to supply Irish market.
Morris O’Connor, the assistant national director of primary care reimbursement, announced that two additional products were expected to be added to the schedule in the coming weeks, and that the programme may be extended for longer than the initial five year pilot period.
He stated: “There are currently four cannabis products on the schedule and two more to be added to schedule one of the regulations in the coming weeks. I understand that one of the products in the schedule namely CannEpil is expected to be available in October, subsequent to the introduction of the necessary legislation.”
According Lorraine Nolan the chief executive of HPRA, since the MCAP regulations came into force in June 2019, 34 applications have been made for cannabis-based products.
Of these four cannabis oils have been placed in schedule one of the regulations, and two dry herb products have completed the final HPRA review and are awaiting a ministerial decision. Five are currently under active review.
Nolan commented: “The first cannabis based products are expected to be made available to Irish patients through MCAP in October 2021. Once these are accessed by Irish patients, the HPRA will receive any reports of suspected adverse events and review them for any signals of concern regarding the safety of the product.
“The HPRA will also have a role in investigating any quality issues that may arise and coordinate any action that might be subsequently required.”
Doctors are asked to register patients who may benefit from this treatment to the HSE including the condition they are being prescribed for.
The HPRA will be monitoring patients for adverse effects over the coming weeks once the medication is available.
The MCAP programme has been criticised by patients who are still waiting for access to products despite the introduction of the scheme in 2019 under then Minister for Health, Simon Harris.
O’Conner also highlighted that 192 ministerial licenses have already been issued for 67 individuals who access medication from the Netherlands.
In July a direct funding scheme was announced to remove the need for patients to pay for these prescriptions upfront and then apply for reimbursement from the Government.
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