Government, private sector unite for more affordable medicines

In support of government programs to lower the cost of drugs and President Arroyo’s 10-point agenda for economic recovery, Therapharma Inc., a division of United Laboratories (Unilab), recently launched an affordable and effective brand of amlodipine.

The new amlodipine is being sold at P17.50, or 60 percent more affordable than the prevailing price of the originator brand, which sells at P44.75.

This move by Therapharma is an answer to the government’s call to make effective medicines more affordable for more Filipinos.

It can be recalled that in her 2001 State of the Nation Address, the President made a commitment to lower the prices of drugs by up to 50 percent.

This led to the creation of GMA 50, a project which aims to ensure that affordable, high-quality, safe and effective drugs are always available, especially to the poor.

The project is being implemented by the Department of Health under the leadership of Secretary Francisco Duque.

Other government agencies such as the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), with Roberto Pagdanganan as head, are also collaborating with the DOH to ensure the success of GMA 50.

Among the strategies of GMA 50 to lower the cost of drugs is to ensure the continuous supply of affordable, safe and effective medicines, whether imported or locally manufactured.

Another approach is to promote the use of generic counterparts of branded drugs which are priced much lower.

Although the government is leading the battle to make quality medicines more affordable, this cannot be made a reality with the effort of one agency or any institution alone. The government has sounded the call for pharmaceutical companies to offer quality medicines at a lower price.

Therapharma was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to heed this call. As early as four years ago, it has been introducing effective and affordable drugs for diseases which require life-long treatments.

The most recent drug to be launched by the company is amlodipine, one of the most prescribed drugs for hypertension. However, the cost of the originator brand is a problem to many hypertensive patients, especially those who are minimum wage earners.

With the availability of a safe, effective and affordable amlodipine, hypertensive patients now have an effective and safe choice to manage their blood pressure.

This will pave the way for an improved treatment compliance among hypertensive patients which will eventually turn into better blood pressure management.

In addition to this, hypertensive patients will also prevent costly complications brought about by uncontrolled blood pressure.

"We believe that millions of our kababayans need an alternative," says John Dumpit, general manager of Therapharma Inc.

The new brand which Therapharma launched is the country’s first alternative amlodipine. Now, patients will be able to get the benefits they need from amlodipine therapy at a more affordable price.

The introduction of a new brand of amlodipine is still part of the Therapharma’s pharmacoeconomics campaign which aims to provide safe, effective and affordable medicines to Filipino patients.