BUCHAREST, SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2015 – THE ROMANIAN ASSOCIATION OF GENERIC DRUG MANUFACTURERS (APMGR), representing generic drug manufacturing companies from Romania, demands that authorities withdraw abusive fiscal policies existing in the pharmaceutical field, in order to rebuild a sustainable base for the Romanian health system, in compliance with the recommendations issued by the European Commission.
Implementing a differentiated calculation for the clawback tax for generig drugs, alongside national policies aimed at encouraging the use of such medical drugs, could generate important savings for the state budget and for patients alike, as it is already the case in various EU member states. Succes stories from EU member states have been presented for the first time in Romania on Tuesday, during the second edition of the International Health Forum 2015, organised by APMGR with support from the European Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (EGA) and its media partners Mediafax, Adevarul, Hotnews, Health Policies and Medical Advice Magasine.
APMGR believes that the current regulatory framework could lead to the disappearence of low price medicines from the market and, eventually, to the collapse of the local pharmaceutical industry.
„Since the first edition of the International Health Forum, in 2013, 1,300 cheap medical drugs have already disappeared form the Romanian market, leaving many patients deprived of life-saving pharmaceutical treatment. Furthermore, this fiscal policy was the cause for the failure to implement 50 million Euro worth of investments in the local pharmaceutical industry” stated Drago? Damian, President of APMGR. According to APMGR estimates, other 1,200 quality and price-accessible medical drugs will fall below the rentability threshold during the next 12 months. Once these are withdrawn from pharmacies, patients will have less access to pharmaceutical treatment, as they would have to replace them with alternative drugs that are far more expensive and the price difference will have to come out of the patients’ own pockets. Moreover, the local production of prescription drugs will continue to decrease, until Romania will turn into a country relying primarly on the import of such medical drugs.
„Pharmaceutical manufacturers are the only ones who, besides paying a profit tax, salaries and social contributions, also pay a clawback tax amounting to 25% of their turnover. This is a huge amount that makes pharmaceutical companies loose capital and downgrade their technology, forcing them to limit their production to drugs that do not require medical prescription and, thus, blocking any possible plans aimed at investing in the development of the local industry” declared Damian.
As a first step towards a sustainable pharmaceutical sector, APMGR demands the immediate implementation of a diferentiated calculation of the clawback tax for generic drugs, based on the use of maximum 65% for the calculation of the „p” variable in the clawback formula. Thus, this could help correlate the fiscal burden and the pricing policy in the pharmaceutical sector.
„I urge the Ministry of Health and the President of Romania to swiftly intervene in order to save an industry that is strategic for Romania, for the benefit of our economy and that of our patients,” added Damian.