TRADE secretary Ramon Lopez has warned that the imposition of retail price caps on certain medicines may lead pharmaceutical companies to pull vital drugs out of the market.
“Price controls are not usually encouraged. It may distort the market,” Lopez said in an interview.
The Trade chief said drug manufacturers could resort to bringing their products to other markets if restraints were to be placed on their retail prices.
“If it doesn’t make sense for them, if the market is not profitable, they can just choose not to enter that market. They may be better off selling their medicines to other countries,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has earlier vowed to sign an executive order that will impose maximum retail prices for at least 120 drugs, saying it was good for the general public. (GMA News)
