The executive order regulating prices of 133 life-saving medicines goes beyond cost reduction as it will help improve access to medicines through pooled procurement and price negotiation.
“Our input to integrate pooled procurement as a way to negotiate price and supply has been included, and to be developed soon,” said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, in reaction to Executive Order (EO) 104 signed by President Duterte last Monday.
Section 4 of the EO directs the Department of Health (DOH), in consultation with relevant government agencies, including the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippines Competition Commission, “to study and propose measures, including, but not limited to pooled procurement, price negotiation and other mechanisms, which will influence the supply, demand and expenditure on drugs and medicines, in accordance with Republic Act No. 9502 or the Cheaper Medicines Act.
To ensure the relevance of the price cuts, the list of drugs subject of the maximum retail prices (MRPs) and/or the maximum wholesale prices (MWPs) shall be subject to review by the DOH, in consultation with the DTI, within six months from the effectivity of the EO and every six months thereafter.
The EO will be implemented 90 days after the signing.
The EO reduces the price of 86 drug molecules or 133 drug formulas by as much as 50 percent. These cover anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetes, anti-cancer, immunopressant, analgesic, anti-asthma and anti-obstructive pulmonary disease, agents affecting bone metabolism, anti-emetic, psoriasis, seborrhea and ichthyosis preparation, anti-depressant, iron chelating agent, growth hormone inhibitor, anti-viral fibrinolytic , hernatopoietic agent, mucolytic, parenteral nutritional product, phosphate binder and surfactant.
The MRP of all drugs and medicines under the EO shall be imposed on all public and private retail outlets including drugstores, hospitals and hospital pharmacies, health maintenance organizations, convenience stores and supermarkets, and the like.
The MWP of all drugs and medicines shall be imposed on all manufacturers, wholesalers, traders, distributors, and the like.
The most expensive anti-hypertensive brand Amlodipine+Indapamide+Perindopril will have a MWP of P37.75 and MRP of MRP of P51.84 for a 10 mg+2.5 mg+10 mg talet.
Ani-diabetes Insulin Lispro will have a MWP of P941.80 and an MRP of P1,192.25 for the 100 IU/ml 10ml vial.
The most expensive in the list is anti-cancer medicine Pertuzumab which will have a MWP of P124,356.34 and an MRP of P174,115.67 for a 30 mg/ml 14 ml vial .
