PHAP: Proposed price cap on patented drugs to hurt patients

The proposed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of the Department of Health will only hurt patients instead of helping them, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) said Friday.

In a statement Friday, PHAP noted the price regulation of medicines will kill small retailers in the country and force manufacturers to reconsider launching new medicines.

“We have been asking for a meeting with our officials to explain that there is a better way, that our prices are comparable to ASEAN countries, and that price control on medicines doesn’t work,” PHAP executive director Teodoro Padilla said.

“We hope we can explain our side before the government makes a decision on the proposed MRP,” he added.

The proposed MRP on patented drugs will lower medicine prices in the country to the average market price of medicine in Southeast Asia.

However, PHAP cited a joint position paper on MRP which found that “several small and medium-sized drugstores were forced to close down.”Other studies on MRP reveal that price regulation did not significantly increase access to medicines.

“A viable solution is for the DOH to make available the cheapest medicines because of lowered procurement costs from pharmaceutical companies,” Padilla said.

This could be possible through bulk purchases by the government from pharmaceutical companies.

“The maximum benefits of buying in bulk—or buy one, take one for example—matches the approach to the objective, and this will really help the public, including those with financial difficulties,” Padilla noted.

“We have been supportive of the efforts of the government to make medicines accessible to all. This one is doable and does away with government budgets in the long run. We are ready to be part of the solution,” he added. —Joahna Lei Casilao/VDS, GMA News