October 4, 2022

IPOPI holds its 21st PID Forum on Immunoglobulin shortages

IPOPI held its 21st PID Forum on September 8, 2022. This edition focused on immunoglobulin shortages for patients with PIDs and was virtually co-hosted by the Members of the European Parliament Istvan Ujhelyi (S&D, Hungary) and Kateřina Konečná (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic). Johan Prevot, IPOPI’s executive director, was the moderator of the event.

The objective of the Forum was to understand more about immunoglobulin (Ig) replacement therapies, how much they rely on plasma collection, their development but also how patients with PIDs are affected by tensions or shortages in the supply and access to these life-saving medicines, and how to work with other stakeholders to tackle these shortages and ensure that patients with PIDs have their right to treatment respected.

Fruitful open floor discussions
The debate and open floor discussion were greatly enriched by the expertise of the speakers, coming from very different disciplines. The Forum kick-started with a presentation by Ms Dominika Misztela, head of global regulatory policy at Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA), who provided a comprehensive explanation of the process by which Ig therapies are developed. Following this, Ms Deirdre Fehily, policy officer in the substances of human origin team at the European Commission, gave some insights on the European Commission’s recent proposal for a regulation on substances of human origin, and how this proposal could contribute to tackling plasma shortages. Finally, Ms Leire Solis, health policy and advocacy senior Manager at IPOPI, shared the recent study results on Ig shortages in the EU from a PID patient perspective. The three presentations were followed by an interactive panel discussion with the three speakers and Ms Otilia Stanga, president of the Romanian PID patient organisation (ARPID), Prof Siobhan Burns, chair of the ESID clinical working party, and Ms Leni von Bornsdorff, Executive director of the International Plasma and Fractionation Association (IPFA).

IPOPI would like to thank all participants who joined the discussions for their active contributions throughout the Forum. A big thank you to MEP Ujhelyi and MEP Konečná for the support given to patients with PIDs.

For further information, please visit IPOPI’s website.