The pharmaceutical industry may not achieve its initial projection of a rebound this year as the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic rages on.
Beaver Tamesis, president of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) told the Wednesday Roundtable @Lido yesterday contrary to assumptions, the industry experienced a contraction in 2020 as hospital capacity for non-COVID dropped to 40 percent.
Tamesis said the initial forecast made at the end of last year
was that the industry would return to growth of 5 to 6 percent in 2021.
He said after the first quarter performance of the industry, “it’s not looking very good. It’s a touch-and go for the rest of the year.”
Tamesis said the industry contracted 11 percent to P270 billion in 2020 from 2019.
He said some sectors, like over-the-counter medicines and vitamins, are doing okay but others such as antibiotics and in-patient required drugs, “went down the drain.
“Majority are in the dumps,” he dded.
Tamesis said the planned implementation of maximum prices on a fresh batch of medicines “will impose a lot of hardship to the industry” and will force some companies to restructure and rethink how they do business in the country.
“Price controls do not help,” Tamesis said, adding PHAP is advocating for pooled procurement which is viable and sustainable.
With government pooled procurement, Tamesis said, pharmaceutical companies can predict how much they can sell and lock them in at a particular price.
“But to suddenly impose price controls, that will drive a lot of companies to rethink their businesses,” Tamesis said.
“We’re hoping that it will not happen because the industry’s hurting,” he added. – Irma Isip
