Oliver O'Connor, Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association
We talk to Oliver O'Connor, CEO, Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, about his role, his career journey and his views on some key issues faced by the industry.
Could you tell us about your role?
I'm the Chief Executive at the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) (www.ipha.ie). We represent 41 companies that bring innovative medicines to Irish healthcare.
We have two divisions – Prescription Medicines and Self-Care. While we have a small core staff of ten, we work with many people among our member companies on a wide range of issues, from a Framework Agreement on the Pricing and Supply of Medicines, to our IPHA Codes for each division, public representation of the industry in Ireland, advocacy on domestic and European policy issues, particularly those affecting access to medicines, innovation and intellectual property. My role is to lead and co-ordinate all this.
Please outline the role of IPHA at both a national and international level.
As above – IPHA leads out on public communications and policy advocacy on a wide range of national and European issues affecting the pharmaceutical sector and our members in particular. We are part of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) (www.efpia.eu). I'm currently an elected board member of this organisation, from among national associations across more than 30 countries. At IPHA and EFPIA we have a very active engagement on complex European policy proposals e.g. in the revision of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and a proposed new Critical Medicines Act. We engage with Government, Oireachtas members, Departments, regulatory authorities, clinicians, relevant associations and patient organisations. We collaborate also with our sister organisation in Ibec, BioPharmaChem Ireland.
How did you end up in your current role? Please outline your career journey.
In 2014 the position as Chief Executive was advertised and I applied and was appointed in January 2015.
I had a background in policy-making in health and other parts of Government, as a Special Advisor to then Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney.
I had come from a background of public policy and finance, having started out in the Department of Foreign Affairs, then moving via an MBA at Stanford University and then working in banking and IFSC roles. I also used to contribute opinions and analyses to papers such as the Irish Times and Wall Street Journal (before blogs and podcasts), so I had a varied mix to bring to this role. I have always liked working on the interaction of public policy and commercial strategies, as in a modern mixed economy, getting the two to dovetail well is of great benefit.
What do you see as the key priorities for the sector over the next twelve months?
Taking decisive steps to implement the Programme for Government's commitment to access to new medicines 'as quickly as possible', a lot faster than now, and in compliance with the Health Act 2013's requirement for decisions on pricing and reimbursement to be made by the HSE within 180 days (excluding clock stops). Also, for Ireland and Europe to take measures to boost European competitiveness, particularly by providing greater support for intellectual property rights, streamlining regulatory processes at the European Medicines Agency and taking steps to enhance access to new medicines in EU member states where access is not fast enough. And, of course, in a fast-moving environment, to do all we can to support open, free trade and tariff-free supply chains internationally, and shore up the continued value of Ireland as a location for pharmaceutical investment.
What is your view on the proposal for a new National Life Sciences Strategy as set out in the recent Programme for Government?
A great opportunity to introduce coherent, strategic policy making across traditional silos so that Ireland will have a sustained strong and developing role in the discovery, development, manufacturing and provision of innovative medicines and therapies in general. We have a lot going for us already, but we have gaps to fill, certainly in the adoption of innovation and the R&D and clinical trials areas. We can work with the forthcoming EU Life Sciences strategy and collaborate with like-minded countries in the Nordics for example, which already have a track record of developing and implementing life sciences strategies. Life sciences cover some global, strategically important industries and we have a great platform to compete and collaborate in that, if we design and implement our policies and programmes well.
How important is the proposed EU Pharmaceutical Strategy, in terms of legislative reform?
It is hard to understate its importance as it only comes around once every 20 years or so. The appetite to re-open pharmaceutical legislation after this round of revision will probably be low, so it's critical for the EU and Ireland within it to get this right. It's a complex area because actual health services and the uptake and reimbursement for medicines remain a national competence, while operating within EU law on the single market and the EU-wide regulatory and IP regimes. It has been heartening to see a specific chapter on the pharmaceutical industry in the Draghi Report on competitiveness; the task now is to translate that into actual policies and legislation to enhance competitiveness. The existing proposals for change in the EU Pharmaceutical Strategy and the revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation date back years in their origin before the Draghi Report's call to action on competitiveness, so updating and revising legislative proposals to the current situation – including the transatlantic and global economic environment, is very important.
Where do you see Ireland's role as a player in the international pharmaceutical healthcare industry, going forward?
We have a great platform to build on. We have very talented and high-skilled people working in complex manufacturing, and we can add to that in business services, advanced new therapies, the application of AI, more R&D collaborations internationally from our universities and researchers, and of course, doing all we can to enhance our role in clinical trials. Jobs and roles are never static, especially in a science and innovation-intensive industry, and we can be alert to and adjust to playing our various roles in these changes. That's how I read strategies from IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for example and the role of the National Clinical Trials Oversight Group. We can, if the political direction is given, become a country that is seen as one that plays a valuable role in the research, development and manufacture and provision of pharmaceutical innovation, and making good on that by being an early adopter of new medicines in our own health services. That's the prize we can
"We can, if the political direction is given, become a country that is seen as one that plays a valuable role in the research, development and manufacture and provision of pharmaceutical innovation, and making good on that by being an early adopter of new medicines in our own health services."
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