The project covers issues such as the obligation for doctors to prescribe a medicine using the International Nonproprietary Name (INN), the requirement to make generics available to customers and to provide for price monitoring.

The following is a summary of some of the options being considered for setting prices, one of which could become a reality once the Joint Committee determines it:

1. Price Monitoring and Price Band: originally the Executive spoke of this alternative by appealing to foreign legislation. The idea is to keep monitoring the price of the medicines most in demand by the population, analyse the data to identify the highest and lowest prices, draw an average and establish price bands (maximum and minimum to be charged).
2. Cenabast Law: this legislation allows independent pharmacies or small chains to buy directly from La Central de Abastecimiento del Sistema Nacional de Servicios de Salud (CENABAST), which means that their costs are considerably reduced. If this criterion was to be used, it should be extended to pharmacy chains. This method aims to ensure that these cost reductions are passed on to customers.
3. Proposal by the National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE): the office proposed dividing the drug fee into two parts. The first corresponds to the single dispensing charge (standard cost of sale) and the second to the acquisition cost of the medicine (what it costs the pharmacy to buy the medicine). Under this logic, it would not be in the pharmacy's interest to sell the most expensive medicines, but simply to sell.

Editor’s comment
Readers interested to learn more about generics in developing countries are invited to visit www.gabi-journal.net to view the following manuscript published in GaBI Journal:

Strategies for pricing of pharmaceuticals and generics in developing countries

GaBI Journal is indexed in Embase, Scopus, Emerging Sources Citation Index and more.

Readers interested in contributing a research or perspective paper to GaBI Journal – an independent, peer reviewed academic journal – please submit your manuscript here.

Related articles
The biosimilars market in Latin America: a summary

Evaluating success: generics substitution policy in Chile

  
Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Copyright – Unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are © 2021 Pro Pharma Communications International. All Rights Reserved.