PITC to buy drugs from Pakistan, India - By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio

The public will soon enjoy low cost medicines as state run Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) is planning on buying P700 million worth of drugs from Pakistan and India.

In an interview, PITC executive vice president Teddie Elson Rivera said the medicines will be for diabetes, asthma, hypertension and tuberculosis. The importation target is 2008. For the entire 2007, PITC has planned to import P500 million worth of drugs.

“We will bring in essential drugs that are really needed by the consumers. We will import so medicines will be more affordable,” Rivera added.

The bulk of the importation for 2008 will be comprised of Norvasc. PITC will finally be able to bring in Pakistani-produced Norvasc since the patent for the drug presently owned by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co is expected to expire starting June this year.

Users of anti-hypertension drug Norvasc will be able to save more than P60 million per month if the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) will nullify the “frivolous patent” granted to Pfizer.

The government-granted patent is set to expire June 13. Pfizer has not yet made any moves to seek for an extension of the 17-year patent.

Rivera said the monthly sales of Norvasc is P120 million. According to him, this figure will be cut in half if importation of the drug from Pakistan is allowed.

Because Pfizer has the patent for Norvasc’s active ingredient amlodipine besylate, the drug retails for P45 per tablet. Rivera said PITC can buy the same drug from Pakistan for only P10 apiece.

“We can sell it (Norvasc) for P20 only. That is more than a 50-percent discount,” Rivera explained.

PITC has filed a 20-page petition before the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to ask for the cancellation of the patent.

PITC claimed that Pfizer should not be given the protection because it is not a new invention given that it merely changed the salt molecule amplodipine.

“There is nothing new with Pfizer Ltd.’s finding of besylate salt as a pharmaceutically accepted salt. As early as 1977, or long before its application, the salt besylate was already recognized by the US Food and Drug Agency,” PITC said in its filing.