The Asociaci?n de Industrias Farmaceuticas Dominicanas, Inc. says that behind the movement to get the President to veto the recently passed Intellectual Property Bill is that the pharmaceutical multinationals oppose competition from national manufacturers in their attempt to preserve their high profits. All the fuss is merely business lobbying by pharmaceutical companies attempting to keep control of market where local companies have increased their market share to 51%, say the local manufacturers in an advertisement in the press today. Their position is that the pharmaceuticals want to keep their privileges in an irregular manner. The Association publishes today a list of comparative prices showing the excessive pricing of the pharmaceutical multinational products in the DR. Following is a listing of the drug and the cost of the multinational brand and its local equivalent. Prices are in RD pesos. To get the dollar equivalency, divide by 16. Enalapril – $581/$149 Simvastatina-$677/$312 Amlodipina-$704/$1674 Piroxicam-$1,560-$357 Fluoxetina-$659.75-$183.55 Nistatina-$225/$76 Omeprazol-$767-$325 Ranitidina-$280-$104 Piracetam-$360/$234 Lovastatina-$859-$286 The excessive profit of US pharmaceuticals is a controversial matter in the US, too. Brian Schweitzer who is running for the Montana Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), maintains a crusade against the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States versus pricing of the same drugs in Canada and Mexico. (http://www.brianschweitzer.com/crusade.html)
