Colombia passes decree promoting cheaper pharmaceutical drugs
Colombia passes decree promoting cheaper pharmaceutical drugs
Sep 24, 2014 posted by Craig Corbett
Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos issued a decree that seeks to promote lower pharmaceutical drug prices in the country. Pharmaceutical companies criticize the move, claiming it will allow sub-standard drugs to enter the market.
The new legislation aims to reduce the price of biotechnological medicines by between 30 and 60%, the president said last week after signing the decree.
Under the new decree, bio-similar versions of biologic drugs, such as Trastuzumab (sold as Herceptin), an expensive drug for breast cancer, or Rituximab, an expensive drug used to treat both cancer and autoimmune diseases would be made available on the Colombian market.
Biotechnological medicines have contributed to major advances in the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, some cancers and other diseases where traditional therapies cease to have an effect. Last year, 35% of the total pharmaceutical market in Colombia was producing biotechnological medicines.
The legislation, which took three years to pass, has come under fire by Colombia pharmaceutical watchdog Afidro and the U.S government, who have pressured President Santos to ensure that the new legislation is made more restrictive to keep unsafe drugs out of the market. Afidro, who is affiliated with well-known pharmaceutical companies Abbott, Sanofi, Novartis, Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Sanofi and Pfizer, claims that the health of Colombian citizens is being put at risk by the new legislation.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/experts-claim-new-drug-decree-allow-potentially-dangerous-medicines-colombia/
