THE notion of generic drugs being cheap, of low quality and ineffective will vanish as India’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., distributes its own perfected drug-formulation technology to the Philippines with a price cut of 50 percent compared with branded medicine offered by foreign multinational drug companies.

In partnership with Britton Marketing Corp., Dr. Reddy’s will target medications for cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, infectious diseases and deadly cancer.

Generic drugs for Omeprazole, Amlodipine maleate, Losartan, Gliclazide, Ramipril, Meloxicam, Ciprofloxacin and Finasteride will now be available in leading drugstores like Mercury Drug, Watsons and the like without draining  the people’s budget.

RAJESH Kumar, regional head of AMEERA and senior director of Dr. Reddy’s, talks about the discovery of Dr. Reddy’s core purpose and its promise of a healthier life and ensuring that essential medicines are available, accessible and affordable to the greater number of Filipinos during Dr. Reddy’s company launch at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City. --RHOY COBILLA

In the Asean, Dr. Reddy’s already has presence in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Humble Rajesh Kumar, Dr. Reddy’s senior director and region head for AMEERA’s (Asean, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Rest of Africa) even apologized to Filipinos for its late entry in the Philippines.

“Affordability, availability and accessibility to quality medicines, plus our core purpose to help people lead healthier lives, are our goals to be always served,” told Kumar in an interview with BusinessMirror.

Kumar sees the Filipino culture of lacking trust in generic medicines as a growth potential and a challenge to penetrate the country’s pharmaceutical market, which is close to P90 billion.

“Dr. Reddy’s credibility is backed by our global presence in over 100 countries and strict compliance to manufacture drugs at par,” explained Kumar.

“With the help, of course, of our manufacturing facilities overseas,” added Antony Raj Gomes, Dr. Reddy’s senior director for quality control.

Dr. Reddy’s not only promised to lower medicine costs but to also employ Filipinos and engage others in livelihood advance business schools (LABS)—one of the corporate social responsibility programs started by Dr. Anji Reddy, the founder and chairman of Dr. Reddy’s.

“We are going to employ 40 Filipinos from managerial positions down to salespersons,” said Kumar.

Gomes added, “The LABS project will be coordinated with the local government soon.”

Health Undersecretary Dr. Ethelyn Nieto lauded the entry of Dr. Reddy’s to the country as timely and appropriate, as House Bill 307, known as the cheap medicine bill, aimed at reducing the cost of drugs in the country, though given priority status by the Legislative-Executive Advisory Council (Ledac),  is still on the deliberations stage.

“It’s just time the vicious barrier on medicine cost is broken. This envisions that there will be no more people who will die because he is refused and not medically attended to by a hospital due to financial constraints, or die because he cannot afford to buy medicine,” he said.

Nieto sees that the Indian company is the answer to the high cost of branded medicine sold by multinational pharmaceuticals.

“Now that Dr. Reddy’s is here, we don’t have to buy the soaring medicine prices of multinationals. In 2020, all Filipinos will no longer be deprived of medicine,” said Nieto.

SIX former socioeconomic planning secretaries called for the strengthening of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) through reforms, including the promotion of greater transparency in the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) process.

DAVAO CITY—Australia put up a new fund for enterprises in Mindanao to help increase economic activity in a region where Australia has also actively helped the Philippine government contain its security threat.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed over the weekend that India has committed to assist the Philippines develop its livestock sector and its biofuels industry.

THE notion of generic drugs being cheap, of low quality and ineffective will vanish as India’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., distributes its own perfected drug-formulation technology to the Philippines with a price cut of 50 percent compared with branded medicine offered by foreign multinational drug companies.

OIL companies have again hiked the price of petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 50 centavos a liter and a peso a kilo, respectively, in a bid to reflect the continuous increase of oil prices in the world market.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will personally confer awards to Pampanga’s most inspiring entrepreneurs today, Monday, a highlight kicking off the latest leg of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship’s (PCE) entrepreneurial campaign Go Negosyo sa Pampanga.