Government, Interphil ink pact to produce 20 drugs

The government and Interphil signed an agreement yesterday for the manufacture of 20 off-patent drugs as part of the Arroyo administration’s commitment to cut the costs of selected medicines for the poor by half.

President Arroyo witnessed the signing of the agreement between Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, chairman of the Philippine International Trade Corp. (PITC), and Interphil president Francisco Billano in simple ceremonies in Malacañang.

Interphil is the Zuellig Group’s publicly traded contract pharmaceutical arm in the Philippines.

"This (agreement) is a major development to make medicines, like those for hypertension, diabetes and antibiotics, affordable to the poor," Pagdanganan told reporters.

He said Mrs. Arroyo wants to cut down the cost of the 20 essential medicines by half based on 2001 prices.

He said PITC will be in charge of purchasing and importing the active ingredients as well as the branding and marketing of the medicines while Interphil will be manufacturing the drugs.

Pagdanganan said the 20 medicines would be manufactured within the first half of 2007 but seven of them would be available as early as the end of the current year.

The seven medicines to be manufactured first by Interphil are ceterizine, an anti-allergy drug; simastatice, anti-cholesterol; lozartane, anti-hypertension; gliclazide, anti-diabetes; cifrofloxacine, claritromycin and clindamycin, antibiotics.

He said apart from Interphil, local drug manufacturers like Pinoy Quality Meds, have expressed desire to participate in the manufacture of similar medicines.

Roberto Romulo, chairman of Zuellig Pharma’s holding company, said the Zuellig Group is proud of its long heritage in the Philippines and "was pleased that it could respond positively to the government’s request to assist in producing in the Philippines selected generic drugs at the lowest possible cost."

"We have agreed to produce those generic drugs most needed by the disadvantaged members of our society. In doing this, we will deliver high-quality products, manufactured in our international-standard facility, at the most affordable prices. This is part of our effort to support the government’s healthcare development agenda," Romulo said.