Orshe

The drug industry is pinning its growth plans on the developing world. But, as the Philippines reminds us this week, the developing world often has its own plans.

The nation just put price controls on five drugs, including two Pfizer biggies — Norvasc, for blood pressure, and Lipitor, for cholesterol. (This AFP story has the complete list of the drugs by their generic names.)

The elements of the story are familiar: A middle-income country (just the kind of place big drug makers are eager to build a market) decides that certain drugs are too expensive. Maybe there are efforts to make a deal (in this case, drug makers offered to cut the prices of 16 drugs). But in the end, the government decides to make unilateral price cuts.

In 2007, after months of negotiations, the Brazilian government decided to break Merck’s patent on an AIDS drug. Last year, Thailand started allowing generic copies of patented cancer drugs from Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Roche. In a variation on a theme, Indonesia announced last year that drug makers who sell drugs in the country would also be required to have factories there.

In a statement about the latest development in the Philippines, Pfizer said it was “disappointed to learn that the government did not accept our offer and chose instead to impose the Maximum Retail Price on Pfizer’s products,” the WSJ reports.

Map detail via CIA World Factbook

Read more here:
The Philippines, Pfizer and Pharma’s Global Growing Pains