Press Release
January 28, 2010

ROXAS: I WILL EXERT ALL EFFORT TO BRING DOWN DRUG PRICES
VOWS TO PUSH FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF 2ND MDRP DRUG LIST

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today vowed he would do everything so prices of essential but expensive medicines can go down.

To make this possible when the new administration takes over in June, Roxas said he will press for the immediate release of the second list of essential medicines that must be sold at lower prices. Roxas is the author of the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act, which allows government to impose a maximum retail price on all essential drugs.

"Kung ako'y mabibigyan ng pagkakataon, ang uunahin ko ay pababain ang presyo ng mamamahaling gamot (Given the chance, the first thing I will do is to bring down the prices of expensive medicines)," the Liberal Party's vice presidential candidate said.

"Walang dibidendo pagdating sa buhay ng tao. Gagawin ko ang lahat para masiguro ang pagbaba ng presyo ng mamahaling gamot, (Any talk about dividends is nothing when people's lives are at stake. I will do everything in my power to ensure that prices of expensive medicines will go down)," he added.

Roxas, who is the running-mate of Liberal standard-bearer Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, promised not to give in to any amount of lobbying from the multibillion pharmaceutical industry.

The government has released its first MDRP list that originally contained 21 medicines, but this was trimmed down to only 5 after Malacañang met with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and negotiated with other multinational companies to voluntarily drop prices on 16 other medicines. Some of the medicines that were voluntarily reduced by the companies were the antibiotic drug Ciprobay, which now costs P41.90 per 500mg tabled from its previous price of P83.75.

The 5 medicines covered by the government-imposed price cap include the anti-hypertensive drug Norvasc, which costs P46.25 per 5mg tablet before the imposition of MDRP, and which now costs only P22.85 per tablet. The 50% saving of more than P22 would now enable a family to buy a half-kilo of rice or at least 2 cans of sardines.

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