Drug companies pledge to keep medicine prices until June
Both foreign and local pharmaceutical companies have pledged not to increase the prices of medicine amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, but only until June, when they are expected to order new stocks, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on Friday.
Herbosa said drug makers made the commitment during a meeting with the Department of Health (DOH) as the agency said it would heighten the monitoring of the pricing of 10 medicines for hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, antibiotics and others to avoid price exploitation.
He also said that, as the report of drug price watches, as submitted by suppliers and pharmacies are submitted quarterly,
“There is no problem with [the] supply of medicine. There is no problem with price. We have good inventory. Our problem is what happens to the price if the companies abroad start charging for the transport,” Herbosa answered during the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum.
Herbosa then noted that once the three-month inventory ends in June, the firms would have to increase their prices due to shipping costs.
“They promised not to increase the cost because the medicines don’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but they said it’s only until June,” Herbosa said.
“So it seems the inventory of our pharma industry is like a three-month inventory, and when they order, the supplier will increase the price because it’s a matter of logistics. It’s through airplanes or ships, so they will spend a higher cost of fuel,” he added.
Local production
Herbosa then noted the Cheaper Medicines Act of 2008, which mandates the DOH, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to monitor the prices of common medicines as sold in retail and wholesale.
He explained that he is monitoring these 10 medicines as they are most commonly used by Filipinos.
Herbosa also said that pharmaceutical manufacturers should start producing in the country to provide jobs for many Filipinos.
“I am also encouraging manufacturers, even the foreign ones, to manufacture here because we are developing as a middle-income country, they said. So the spending for medicines increased, and we are now being noticed,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said that to sustain a good inventory of medicines, other pharmaceutical companies should “import by bulk and reformulate it here.” He noted that doing so would lower the cost of medicines.
“When you buy it as a finished product, it’s more pricey. It’s 30-70% higher but if you repack it here, the profit margin will increase and it will generate jobs for Filipinos,” he added.
