Anyway, below are the materials I saw.
Duterte issues EO
imposing price caps on 133 drug formulas; PHAP appeals
By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco -February 18, 2020
Executive Order
(EO) No. 104 mandated the implementation for a Maximum Retail Price (MRP)
and/or Maximum Wholesale Price (MWP) 86 drug molecules or 133 drug formulas
upon the recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH).
Initially, the DOH
recommendation covered 122 drug molecules or 205 drug formulas in line with
Republic Act (RA) 9502 or the Cheaper Medicines Act.
However, several of
the drugs have yet to be given MRP and MWP by the technical working group (TWG)
of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and DOH.
Pharma firms might
slash labor force due to drug price cap
Published February 18, 2020 3:29pm
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
“PHAP has been
consistent in its opposition to price control since global experience had shown
that artificial measures result in market inefficiencies and lack of supply,”
the pharmaceutical firms’ group said.
“If reasonable
profits are not realized, pharmaceutical companies would review the
sustainability of its operations in the Philippines, including the possible
downsizing in the number of employees,” it said….
PHAP also stressed
that innovative drugs, or new medicines and vaccines produced from years of
expensive research to address current or emerging health threats, would likely
not be introduced in the Philippines.
‘Medicine price
cap benefits cancer patients the most’
Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star ) - February 23, 2020
- 12:00am
Quezon City Rep.
Alfred Vargas commended the EO that set maximum drug retail prices on basic
medicine and selected anti-cancer drugs since the lower cost will have a
profound effect on cancer patients and their families….
The Philippine
Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO) yesterday opposed the proposal to
create a Drug Price Regulatory Board (DPRB), saying the this is not the answer
to the high cost of medicines.
In a position
paper, PAPO welcomed the government’s efforts to reduce the cost of medicines
that account for 85 percent of the expenses of Filipino patients.
The unappreciated
pharmaceutical business
Published February 25, 2020, 10:00 PM
By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
Dr. BEAVER R.
TAMESIS is on his fifth year as head of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare
Association of the Philippines (PHAP), a group of innovators and research-based
MNC drug companies in the country. The industry is at the crossroads as the
government implements the second phase of the maximum retail price (MRP)
program or price control on essential medicines….
Tamesis cautioned
the government that such price control mechanism is a bad idea that would only
make pharma companies deprioritize the Philippines and end up depriving
Filipinos of access to innovator drugs for critical illnesses at affordable
prices while scaring investors away. Tamesis even stressed that with an
approval rating of more than 80 percent, the President does not need another
populist measure….
“I can swear on a
stack of Bibles that our prices are very comparable with the rest of Asia and
even with the developing world, we have studies to prove that. I don’t know
what are they exactly comparing. I don’t know where in the world they got those
numbers,” rebuts Tamesis.
Industry group
warns: medicine price caps unsustainable, may lead to product withdrawals
By Melissa Luz Lopez, CNN Philippines
Published Feb 28, 2020 7:06:12 PM
Teodoro Padilla,
executive director of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the
Philippines, said the recently-signed Executive Order 104 could do more harm
than good for Filipinos needing a constant supply of medicines for their
ailments.
"Right now,
most of the medicines are patented. If there is going to be a price cap...
we're not sure if we can sustain continued availability because there are costs
in terms of developing these medicines which have yet been fully recovered
worldwide," Padilla told CNN Philippines' Business Roundup. "A
company might decide to either scale down operations or withdraw a product
altogether."
Duterte prescribes
ceiling for rising drug prices
March 4, 2020 | 12:30 am
By Gillian M. Cortez
Reporter
“The price
distortion stems from the DoH formula that sets very low prices at the
manufacturers’ level and yet mandates retailers to impose as much as 45%
mark-up which, at present, generally does not reach that level, particularly
with most outlets,” PHAP said in a statement.
The proposed scheme
would, therefore, lead to either a price freeze or even higher drug prices at
the patient level.
“This is like
squeezing rice farmers but mandating retail prices to go up. The result is the
farmers will not plant, and there will be a shortage. It will be the same with
us,” PHAP Executive Director Teodoro B. Padilla said.
Imee calls for
more cheap medicines
March 16, 2020
ByMarlon Purificacion
People's Journal
More medicines for
those who are “immunocompromised” or have weaker immune systems due to
illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and lung disorders should be included
in the list of 72 more drugs that the government is considering this week for
price regulation, Marcos said.
“Habang wala pang
vaccine o lunas sa Covid-19, ang pag-asa na lamang ng mga mahihina ang immune
system dahil sa kanilang mga kapansanan ay mas murang gamot,” Marcos said.
Lives at risk
By: Peter Wallace - @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily
Inquirer / 05:04 AM March 26, 2020
…potential
vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics for this coronavirus. But will we get it
here in the Philippines? The answer may well be no. Drug companies are now
reluctant to introduce innovative products into the Philippines because the
government has forced massive discounts (reductions) on the prices of drugs.
The possibility,
nay, probability that the DOH would control the price of a COVID-19 cure means
the Philippines will be the last market to be supplied.
This is a risk now
for any innovative drugs. Who will risk bringing in a product when you may have
your margins slashed, even eliminated? You’ll concentrate on open markets where
the market determines the price.
--------------
I have also written two articles in BusinessWorld on this
subject.
Drug price control
and the nanny state
March 2, 2020 | 7:55 pm
My Cup of Liberty
By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr.
Evolving viruses
and innovator drugs
March 16, 2020 | 9:53 pm
My Cup of Liberty
By Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr.
See also:
Drug Price Control 42: New Round of India Price Caps, September 25, 2014
Drug Price Control 44, News stories in 2019 on DPC, March 19, 2020
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