*Up to 20 percent for its high cost
By: Andrey Maldonado
The increase in the prices of patent medicines has caused the consumption of generic drugs to increase, this was reported by the businessman from the pharmaceutical industry, Adolfo Favela Cordero, who assured that the drop has been up to 20 percent.
He explained that the downward trend in the consumption of patent products has been on the rise in the last three years, due to the increase in the price of original medicines, which in recent months has been 15 percent on average; in “similar” drugs the increase has not been as noticeable.
The interviewee stated that for this reason many people now make mixed purchases, that is, one part of their prescription is filled with generic drugs and the other with original products; “There are drugs that do not have generic equivalence and must be purchased only in patent pharmacies,” he asserted.
He added that filling a prescription with original medicine can cost a patient up to 2,500 pesos, while resorting to generics generates an expense of no more than 500 pesos, hence these last products have had an increase in the last three years. in his 20 percent claim.
Favela Cordero explained that this does not directly affect the pharmaceutical industry, since in one way or another, general pharmacies sell both patent and generic drugs; “The impact in any case occurs in the laboratories, which see their sales decrease,” she pointed out.
On the other hand, he stated that there is still a demand for products that are scarce in the public health service, mainly for chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, in periods when the IMSS or the ISSSTE stop supplying; There is also a demand for controlled medication.
