The Department of Health (DOH) is finalizing the prices of the remaining 35 medicines that it will include in the maximum drug retail price (MDRP) program.
This was one the highlights of a recent consultation by the Pharmaceutical Division of the DOH with consumers and patients on the implementation of Executive Order No. 104 or “Improving Access to Healthcare through Regulation of Prices in the Retail of Drugs and Medicines.”
The remaining 35 drug molecules or 72 drug formulations are used to treat chronic lung diseases, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and major cancers.
The DOH also said it will pursue earlier proposals for the expansion of the list of medicines under pooled procurement as well as the establishment of the price negotiation board.
These had been largely credited for bringing down prices of medicines by 50 to 80 percent.
Pharmaceutical companies had recommended pooled procurement and price negotiation instead of imposing price caps on medicines, a move backed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
EO 104 reduced by up to 50 percent the prices of 87 drug molecules (equivalent to 133 drug formulations) effective this month.
The review of the 35 medicines is being done jointly with the DTI.