While regulators warn of the risk of buying drugs online, the
Amsterdam-based Social Medwork sees its network of trusted suppliers
as filling a gap in the market for the latest drugs against diseases
such as cancer, migraine and multiple sclerosis.
Now it is looking to raise its profile and expand, by signing up
former EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes to its supervisory board and
securing 1.5 million euros ($1.73 million) in new funding from the
Social Impact Ventures capital fund.
Like Ron Woodroof, the 1980s AIDS patient in the movie ‘Dallas
Buyers Club’, patients who cannot get the drugs they want through
local healthcare systems are using the organization to self-import
medicines from abroad.
But while Woodroof had to smuggle drugs across the Mexican border,
the Social Medwork's customers can place orders online legally, as
long as they have a prescription and a doctor's letter stating that
the drug is strictly for personal use.
In the past 18 months, the group, which is registered with the Dutch
Ministry of Health as a medicines intermediary, has supplied more
than 3,000 patients.
They include British migraine sufferer Senty Bera, 43, who recently
used the system to buy Aimovig, a new monthly migraine injection
from Amgen and Novartis, the first in an improved class of drugs
that target a chemical involved in triggering attacks.
"My quality of life was so poor I thought it was worth trying and it
is working brilliantly," Bera said.
As yet, Aimovig is not approved for use within Britain's state
health service - though Bera hopes it will be soon - but its
reputation means it is one of Social Medwork's top-sellers, despite
a price tag of 698 euros for two autoinjectors.
A spokeswoman for Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency confirmed there were no formal restrictions on
importing such medicines for personal use.
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In the past, informal drug-buying networks https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pharmaceuticals-buyers-clubs-idUSKBN1310FA
have helped supply cheap generic versions of treatments for HIV and
hepatitis C. But the Dutch group, which charges a fee of around 6
percent, claims to be the only organization focused on newly
approved branded drugs.
With customers in 70 countries, its line-up includes new cancer
drugs that are U.S.-approved but not yet available elsewhere, as
well as medicines for chronic disorders, such as Roche's new
multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus.
Founder Sjaak Vink says the Internet means patients are increasingly
aware they may be waiting months or even years for novel drugs
following a first approval elsewhere.
"We really need to bridge this gap because this situation is
ridiculous," he said in an interview.
Vink said he was inspired to found the organization by delays in
European availability of Merck & Co's innovative cancer
immunotherapy Keytruda.
Today, his group has customers in Australia, the Middle East and
Asia, as well as major European markets such as France, Italy,
Germany and Britain, where drug delays could worsen if Brexit
disrupts supply lines.
Given relatively speedy U.S. approvals, there are currently fewer
customers in America, although there was a spike in U.S. demand last
year for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma's amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
drug Radicut/Radicava, which was approved first in Japan.
(Editing by Louise Heavens)
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