Pampanga regulates prices of remdesivir, other COVID meds

FILE PHOTO: An ampule of Gilead Sciences COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir is pictured during a news conference at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany, April 8, 2020, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues. Ulrich Perrey/Pool via REUTERS

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda has begun to regulate the prices of medicines used to treat people taken ill with COVID-19.

Pineda on Wednesday (Aug. 4) led the meeting of the provincial board with officials of several agencies in preparation for the convening of the Local Price Coordinating Council.

He moved to regulate the prices of remdesivir, an antiviral medication, as some hospitals charged from P8,000 to P22,000 for every vial of 100 milligrams of the drug that has been proven effective in treating severe COVID-19 cases.

The Department of Health’s Circular No. 2021-0291 dated July 6 set the suggested retail price of remdesivir at P1,500 to P8,200. The current purchase price of 100-mg vial is P3,500, Provincial Board Member Ananias Canlas Jr. said.

“We are in an emergency situation and the Delta variant is on us. This is no time to milk dry people who are infected by the virus. Your provincial government is intervening by regulating the prices and penalizing violators,” Pineda said in a statement.

At the hearing, officials of the National Bureau of Investigation and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group claimed they had monitored the sale of remdesivir, which is a generic name, and other medicines for COVID in the market.

The agencies have not received complaints of fake remdesivir so far.

As of Wednesday, the Pampanga Health Office has recorded 87 new COVID cases with 2,367 of these active.

At least 22,481 people in the province had recovered from the disease and 1,283 had died.

TSB