Generic medicines, whose patent protection has expired but with the same efficacy, are manufactured by pharmaceuticals in the Philippines primarily as a cost-saving measure. Generic pharmaceutical drugs can be mass-produced and sold at a lower cost to Filipino consumers. Notably, drugs regulated as such accounted for most of the Philippines’ pharmaceutical market sales.

 What are generic drugs in the Philippines’ pharmaceutical market? 

In other parts of the world, pharmaceutical drugs are licensed by the Federal Drug Authority (FDA) by two approvals, originator and generics. In the Philippines, however, pharmaceutical drugs are regulated into three segments: originator, branded generics, and unbranded generics. Branded and unbranded generics are produced according to the same requirements and with the same bioequivalence as the originator. Pharmaceutical corporations in the Philippines have moved towards producing more branded and unbranded generics, as sales growth had significantly increased in the last few years. While unbranded generics do not have a big share of the market despite their growth, it held a significant presence in the Philippines’ pharmaceutical industry. Local producers have a commanding presence in this segment, such that it allows them to have their name on the medicine, despite not being the innovator, a benefit unique for the Philippines’ pharmaceutical companies. In both the branded and unbranded generic market, local market players have dominated the drug sales. Unilab Inc., a local pharmaceutical corporation is one of the major pharmaceutical companies in the Philippines.

 Impact of generic drugs in the Philippines’ pharmaceutical market

  As generic drugs continue to increase their share of the Philippines’ pharmaceutical, innovating molecules for creating patent or originator drugs have become a distant goal for many pharmaceutical laboratories and companies. In creating more generic drugs, the Philippines’ pharmaceutical companies import more medicaments needed for generic drug formulation. This holds true as the value of imported pharmaceutical products have continued to increase in the past years, showing a fourfold rise since 2008. By comparison, the value of exports has significantly decreased, and in recent findings, imports are greater than exports, resulting in a trade deficit or negative balance of trade.

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