Small pharma firms not happy with Maximum Drug Retail Price

MANILA, Philippines - The implementation of the Maximum Drug Retail Price (MDRP) provision of the Cheaper Medicines Act may have the unexpected consequences of once again favoring multinational pharmaceutical companies and squeezing the smaller domestic pharma firms.

This was the wary assessment of Tomas Agana III, president and chief executive officer of Pharex Health Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pascual Laboratories Inc.

In a press conference, Agana admitted that local drug manufacturers are also against the MDRP which went into effect over the weekend.

Implementation of the MDRP, Agana explained, would effectively cut the price advantage that local pharma firms like Pharex have been able to offer consumers.

Pharex, for one has been positioning itself as a source of affordable, quality medicines.

With the implementation of the MDRP, local drug firms like Pharex, Agana said, would now be subject to “price pressure”.

Unfortunately, Agana said, local drug firms do not have much leeway to similarly lower their prices.

Pharex, Agana assured, is still confident of achieving its 25 percent sales growth target of P1.5 billion this year.

Following the passage of the Generics Law in 1988, Pascual Laboratories found an opportunity to start manufacturing generic off-patent medicines.

Pharex (which stands for pharmaceutical excellence) was formed to provide affordable quality medicines. Pharex’s advocacy is affordable, quality medicines “then and for always” called “Economix.”

Agana explained that Pharex Economix aims to provide Filipinos access to a wide range of premium quality, but affordable medicines.

Pascual Laboratories and Pharex use quality raw materials sourced from the open, global market, doing away with the practice of transfer pricing done by multinational pharmaceuticals companies.

Pharex is then able to lower its prices by almost 50 percent.