Following a number of new regulations introduced in Ireland last year, MIMS Ireland is pleased to announce the addition of two new symbols designed to further guide healthcare professionals in their drug choice or drug safety monitoring.
1) First symbol – 
under additional monitoring: Identifies medicinal products which require additional monitoring as recently defined by the EU. If a medicine is labelled with the black triangle, this means that it is being monitored even more intensively than other medicines, generally because there is less information available on it (e.g. new to the market, limited data on long-term use, etc.).
- A complete list of all products designated by the EU as requiring additional monitoring features in MIMS Clinical Compendium of the year.
- Following monthly updates by the EU, new products that are added to and/or removed from the list will be listed each month in the New This Month section of MIMS Ireland.
2) Second symbol – 
Interchangeable medicine: Identifies medicinal products that can be substituted by a generic on the list of interchangeable medicines published and maintained by the IMB. Additionally, a common reimbursement price, or reference price, has been or will be introduced for selected groups of interchangeable medicines (one at a time).
- Active ingredients with published list of interchangeable medicines included in MIMS Ireland:
Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid 875/125mg, 500/125mg, 250/125mg (tabs), 125/31.25mg, 400/57mg (powder for oral suspension) (Augmentin and generics)
Atorvastatin 10mg, 20mg, 40mg, 80mg film-ctd tabs (Lipitor and generics)
Esomeprazole 20, 40mg gastro-resistant caps/tabs (Nexium and generics)
Ezetimibe/Simvastatin 10/20mg, 10/40mg, 10/80mg tabs (Inegy)
Felodipine/Ramipril 5mg/5mg prolonged release tabs (Triapin)
Lansoprazole 15mg, 30mg gastro-resistant caps /orodispersiblet tabs (Zoton Fastab and generics)
Lercanidipine 10mg, 20mg film-ctd tabs (Zanidip and generics)
Losartan 12.5mg, 50mg,100mg film-ctd tabs (Cozaar and generics)
Losartan/ Hydrochlorothiazide 50mg/12.5mg, 100mg/12.5mg, 100mg/25mg film-ctd tabs (Cozaar Comp and generics)
Omeprazole 10mg, 20mg, 40mg gastro-resistant caps/tabs (Losec Mups and generics)
Pantoprazole 20mg, 40mg gastro-resistant tabs (Protium and generics)
Pravastatin 10mg, 20mg, 40mg film-ctd tabs/tabs (Lipostat and generics)
Quetiapine 25mg, 100mg, 150mg, 200mg, 300mg (film ctd tabs) (Seroquel and generics) 50mg, 200mg, 300mg, 400mg (prolonged released tabs) (Seroquel XR and generics)
Ramipril 1.25mg, 2.5mg, 5mg, 10mg caps/tabs (Tritace and generics)
Rosuvastatin 5mg, 10mg, 20, 40mg film-ctd tabs (Crestor and generics)
Simvastatin 5mg, 10mg, 20mg, 40mg, 80mg film-ctd tabs (Zocor and generics)
List published on the IMB website, click here.
- Other active ingredients selected to be part of a list of interchangeable medicines in the near future: Anastrazole, candesartan, clopidogrel, olanzapine, perindopril, rabeprazole, risperidone and valsartan.
- In February 2014 only medicines belonging to the atorvastatin group, the rosuvastatin group and the esomeprazole group of interchangeable medicines had their reference prices set.
Reference prices for atorvastatin: 10mg-28, €3.47; 20mg-28, €5.46; 40mg-28, €9.14; 20mg-28, €10.53.
Reference prices for rosuvastatin: 5mg-28, €5.88; 10mg-28, €7.28; 20mg-28, €11.76; 40mg-28, €12.32.
Reference price for esomeprazole: 20mg-28, €6.44; 40mg-28, €9.80.
Reference prices will not be implemented for other products on the IM list until March 1st at the earliest
The two new symbols are also listed in the glossary along with their meaning. For further information please don’t hesitate to contact MIMS Ireland editorial team at info@mims.ie