Price competition benefits patients

And the battle begins. Much like the way cholesterol stiffens the arteries causing heart problems, competition in the local anticholesterol market also stiffens, but in a favorable way for the patients, with multinationals rolling back their prices by as much as 57 percent.

This decision, according to some medical practitioners, is a welcome development in the pharmaceutical industry, which was likely triggered by the introduction of a bioequivalent brand of simvastatin by a local company which was sold at half the price of the innovator product.

Even managers in the pharmaceutical industry thought previously that this type of price rollback was not possible. Companies marketing innovative drugs generally put high tag prices in their drugs and this prices even increase annually.

The companies, especially the multinationals, justify this premium pricing by citing the cost of the research and development of the innovator drug. But some quarters, however, feel that this leads to exploitative pricing which may disregard the sad reality that many Filipinos are deprived of better health or probably, an extension of their lives, simply because they could not afford to sustain their treatment.

This perception was reinforced by the 57-percent price rollback made by one pharmaceutical company a year after the introduction of the lower-priced statin. "The fact was exposed that what these drug companies were previously imposing on the patients were unreasonably high prices for this particular statin," says a medical practitioner.

Doctors and patients alike are now very conscious about pharmacoeconomics and this is seen as a major pressure on the pharmaceutical companies that will make them adjust their prices, particularly of new drug introductions.

Pharmacoeconomics dictate that equally effective or bioequivalent drugs must be reasonably priced. The massive support of the public for drugs which are perceived as pharmacoeconomic as in the statin case, created a significant impact that is now "changing the paradigm or practices of drug companies," says a marketing executive.

It is deemed expected that an average Filipino patient, with income barely enough for the basics, would appreciate all the savings he can get in buying affordable pharmacoeconomic medicines that will sustain long-term treatment of his disease.

More price rollbacks of pharmaceutical products, to match the prices of pharmacoeconomic drugs, are expected in the near future and this is a welcome development for all Filipino patients who are constantly struggling with the health burden and overall economic crunch the country is in.

Doctors and patients are enjoined to continue supporting pharmacoeconomic drugs so that expensive medicines will be constantly challenged and their manufacturers or distributors will have no choice but to lower their cost.

Health experts are convinced that this should significantly impact on drug pricing of all pharmaceutical products, and on healthcare delivery in the country as a whole.