The drugs at accessible price “can disappear from Romania”

The drugs for heart diseases, for nervous system or anti-infective drugs, which can be found nowadays at an accessible price, could disappear from Romanian market, raises awareness the association of domestic producers.

The main obstacle that producers claim about is “the clawback tax”, fee on additional sales that they make comparatively with the ones from the previous year.

If a company which produces drugs is additionally and generically charged, the reasons regarding profit and profitability disappear.

As consequence, Romanian patients could be forced to orientate again to more expensive drugs.

The state has delays regarding drugs payment for more than a year, even though the law limits the term until the free and compensated prescriptions have to be returned up to almost seven months, sustain the domestic drug producers.

Already disappointed by the repeated extension of this term, the producers ask in this moment also for the modification of additional tax, the so-called “clawback tax”.

“It is considered as base for calculation exclusively the producer price, excluding in this manner the distributors’ additions, pharmacists’ additions and the VAT. The synchronization of the payment term of the tax with the term of the return, established in this moment by the framework contract of 210 days”, declared Dragoş Damian, the president of the Generic Drugs Producers Association in Romania.

“In other words, we want to pay this tax, as long as we will pay it, every 210 days, which is the legal term, according to the framework contract of drugs return. In addition, we ask for the effective establishment of a reduction plan regarding the deadlines, according to the disposition, to EU Directive 7/2011, which regards the combat of payments delays between the state and the services suppliers”, added him.

More expensive drugs for patients

Otherwise, declares the representative of drugs producers, they will be forced to renounce at unprofitable products, which would lead to the imposition on the market of some more expensive drugs.

“There are drugs in the cardiovascular organ sphere, there are anti-infective drugs, generally, these are drugs at extremely accessible prices, which, once disappearing from the market, they would not make anything else but to offer a space to some more expensive drugs, which means a less access of patients to therapies.

“There are drugs in the central nervous system sphere, for instance. So, in the last five years, without the existence of this clawback tax, the population’s access has reduced. Somewhere between 5 and 10% of the drugs volumes have disappeared from the market”, declared Dragoş Damian.

The generic drugs producers assure that the drugs for cancer will not disappear from the Romanian market.

The law project which will regulate the emergency ordinance regarding “the clawback tax” has been discussed within the Senate Heath Committee and will be debated within the Senate.

The forum decision in this case is the Chamber of Deputies.

The beginning of the year is, in fact, an agitated one on the local drugs market, especially after the departure of the main producer of morphine.

The producers and even some specialists have repeatedly drew attention that the economical environment created in Romania, by taxes as clawback, is unforeseeable and extremely difficult.

Translated by

Alexandra-Diana Mircea

MTTLC, Bucharest University