Continuing its self-care push, Maxwellia reveals plans to switch more products from POM to P

Maxwellia has revealed its plans to switch some of its medicines in the self-care category from prescription-only-medicine (POM) to a pharmacy (P) medicine.

After authorising the switch of Maxwellia's two brands of desogestrel contraceptive pills, Lovima and Hana, MHRA has opened a public consultation on reclassification of Aquiette (overactive bladder treatment) 2.5mg tablets manufactured by the company to be made available from pharmacies.

“Maxwellia is currently looking at a number of medicines which treat a range of conditions in major public health categories that can be ‘switched’ from needing a prescription to being conveniently bought at a local high street or supermarket pharmacy. With its foot firmly on the accelerator it has other applications under assessment with the MHRA, including women’s health products,” the company stated in a recent statement.

"Push to convert more prescription medicines to pharmacy medicines will firmly position pharmacists at heart of nation’s public health, helping futureproof NHS," the medicine said.

The Alderley Park, Cheshire-based company said that the switch could help ease unnecessary pressure on GPs, who are currently gatekeepers to a range of medicines that could easily be provided by a pharmacist with a short pharmacy consultation.

Maxwellia CEO, Anna Maxwell, said: “This pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s behaviour and attitudes to self-care. We are seeing signs that people are starting to pay closer attention to their health and taking active steps to make daily changes to take better care of their own health. A huge part of enabling this change will be to allow easier access to medicines that help people to better manage their own health more easily and conveniently.

“Britain’s pharmacies have become the ‘front door’ of the NHS over the past couple of years with pharmacists now the most accessible healthcare professional in the UK. I’ve always been passionate about the role of pharmacists, these are highly trained clinical experts helping patients and the public by assessing conditions and making decisions about which medicines or treatments would be most suitable, they dispense prescriptions and provide health checks and consultations.

“As a pharmacist myself, I know how important we are in helping people to self-care and see that pharmacists will play an increasingly important role in the local community as medical advisors. It’s vital more medicines are reclassified, from prescription-only to pharmacy status, enabling people to access them following a short consultation with a pharmacist.”