Roxas sees swift passage of cheaper medicines bill
"Congress should be able to pass the cheaper medicines bill by May 1, Labor Day."
Ilonggo Sen. Mar Roxas made the statement as Congress resumed session this week. Malacañang has decided to drop recently a controversial 'generics only' clause which was contained in the House version of the bill now pending at the bicamercal conference committee. Consequently the members of the House panel at the committee also agreed to exclude the said provision.
The 'generics only' clause in the drugs bill was the last obstacle to the consolidation of the Senate and House versions. Senator Roxas co-chairs the bicameral committee with Rep. Antonio Alvarez who heads the House panel.
Earlier, Sen. Roxas lauded Malacañang's decision to drop the 'generics only' clause in the cheaper medicines bill. He said the new law is "essentially about increasing competition in the pharmaceutical industry in order to bring prices down."
The Ilonggo senator from Capiz drew parallels from the telephone and airline industries when he elaborated on how to lower prices of medicines.
"Remember the telephone before there was competition? You have to make 'suhol' to get a line. You have to wait 3-4 months to get a line. And after you got a line, may party line ka pa! When there was competition, technology came along with cheaper and better service. It used to $4 a minute call to the US. With competition, now it's 40 cents a minute."
So it was with the airline industry, Sen. Roxas pointed out. He said that when it was only Philippine Airlines, the plane was always late, there were fewer destinations, poor and expensive service. When competition came, so did the newer planes, better service and the airline industry thrived, Roxas said.
It is the same with the pharmaceutical industry here. Sen. Roxas explained "there is only one contract manufacturer, Interphil in Laguna; one wholesale distributor Zuellig Pharma which has about 75% of the market. And a few months ago, Zuellig Pharma bought Interphil. And there's only one in retail – Mercury Drug – with about 60% of the market."
"The problem of no real competition in the pharmaceutical industry will be addressed by the cheaper medicines bill when it is enacted into law. Not overnight but after some time, cheaper medicines will be more accessible due to competition," Sen. Roxas said.