Proposed payments for retail drug marketing of up to 3% for prescription drugs and 20% for over-the-counter drugs will cause price increases – Medical association
The amount of payments for marketing and promotion of medicines in the retail network at the level of up to 3% for prescription drugs and 20% for over-the-counter drugs proposed by the Ministry of Health may lead to an increase in drug prices, according to the public union Association of Manufacturers of Innovative Medicines (Association).
"We see significant risks regarding 3% for services ensuring the availability of prescription drugs, since such payments are currently absent, and in light of the significant reduction in marketing payments for pharmacies, we believe that such payments will actually become mandatory, which will lead to a significant increase in the costs of manufacturers and importers and will affect the final cost of medicines, which will accordingly lead to an increase in the cost of prescription drugs," the Association's appeal to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Economy says.
The Association also believes that "the quarterly amount of licensees' expenses for marketing services of up to 20% of the total volume of sales of over-the-counter medicines (which is many times more than it is currently in fact) may lead to an increase in the price of over-the-counter medicines."
Instead, it considers it advisable to return to the draft version, which provides for a maximum amount of expenses for marketing services of 12-15% of the total volume of sales of medicines by a pharmacy, without reference to sales by the manufacturer.
The Association notes that "the ban on marketing agreements, which has been in effect for more than three months, has not led to a decrease in prices, and the percentage of sales that falls on marketing agreements is not large."
"We propose to consider the possibility of regulating marketing agreements without establishing restrictions in the form of percentages at the legislative level, but by introducing certain rules that will become the basis for marketing agreements," the Association says.