Philippines Drugmakers Cite Poor Generics Regulations
A Philippines drug industry association, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association (PHAP), has criticised the government's apparent failure to implement the Generics Act, a measure originally approved in 1988. The group claims that proper enforcement of the law, and a clampdown on copying, would prove a better means to boost low-cost healthcare than expanding the government's controversial parallel drug import programme.
Existing regulations are positive for the generics sector, as for example doctors are obliged to include a drug's generic name on prescriptions. However, it appears that such cost-conscious measures have failed to prevent widespread copying in the country, which has been partly attributable to high local prices for branded drugs compared with other regional markets.
Meanwhile, the PHAP has launched another injunction against the parallel importation policy, which allows government-owned trading concern PITC an official monopoly on imports of low-cost drugs from India, where harsh price controls are in effect. The programme has reportedly sourced more than US$500mn worth of cheap drugs from the country in the last three years, although many counterfeiters are able to label their products as "made in India" to exploit the scheme.
Despite its obvious problems, the Philippines government is nevertheless unlikely to withdraw from the parallel imports policy. Officials have already pledged to reduce drug prices by as much as 50%, and low acceptance of generics among local prescribers is unlikely to improve in the near term. Further, the parallel import plan's objectives are likely to encourage branded drugs while also severely affecting ethical manufacturers' margins. Indeed, the programme specifically targets the most commonly prescribed brands and therapies, and seeks to obtain foreign drugs for the country's most commonly fatal diseases at the widest possible differentials to prevailing prices in the Philippines.
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