By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE patent battle between Pfizer Inc. and United Laboratories Inc. has moved beyond the courtroom and into the drugstore space, with Pfizer threatening legal charges against those that continue to sell Unilab’s Avamax.
Pfizer external legal counsel Esguerra & Blanco Law Offices on Oct. 7 sent letters to various drugstore chains in Metro Manila and the provinces, demanding that these stores stop selling Unilab’s generic version of Pfizer’s popular anticholesterol drug Lipitor.
Among the drugstores that received Pfizer’s demand letter were Watsons Personal Care Stores (Philippines) Inc., South Star Drug Inc., Amesco Drug in Davao City and Rose Pharmacy Inc. in Cebu City.
According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer, Atorvastatin Calcium, the drug Pfizer marketed under the brand Lipitor and which Unilab started selling this month under the name Avamax, was still under patent with Warner Lambert, a company that Pfizer bought in 2004.
The letter said Warner Lambert continued to hold the patent for Atorvastatin Calcium and that Pfizer held its exclusive distribution rights in the Philippines.
“We demand that upon receipt of this letter, you immediately cease and desist from further distributing or selling these generic versions of Atorvastatin Calcium as you and your personnel are contributing to the infringement of valid and existing patent and exclusive distribution rights, thus causing grave and irreparable damage and injury to them,” the letter said.
“We likewise demand that you inform us in writing of your compliance with the foregoing, and of your willingness to execute an undertaking whereby you will forever desist from promoting, advertising, distributing or selling these generic versions of Atorvastatin Calcium within five days from receipt of this letter,” it added.
The letter said drugstores that would continue to carry Unilab’s Avamax would face legal action.
Asked for a response, Watsons senior regulatory affairs manager Belinda Pesayco said the drugstore chain had decided to continue carrying Avamax despite the warning as this provided a cheaper alternative to consumers taking anticholesterol medicine.
“Both Pfizer and Unilab are longstanding partners of ours in the business. But after thoroughly studying the matter, we decided to continue carrying Avamax because it is cheaper. We just want to fulfill what (RA 9502, or the Universally Accessible and Quality Cheaper Medicines Act) aims to do—to make affordable, good quality medicine accessible to as many consumers as possible,” she said in a telephone interview.
Showing posts with label generics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label generics. Show all posts
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Food supplements.............
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:16:00 09/29/2009
Why would the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) go after the Filipino makers of herb supplements when they’re just trying to sell their products? People are familiar with herbal drugs, especially those that have been around for generations. Our country is gifted with abundant sources of herbal medicine. These herbs are common, cheap and free of side effects, unlike chemical medicines.
What the DoH and FDA officials won’t admit is that they are yielding to pressure from greedy multinationals whose share of the market for expensive drugs is being eaten up by these very common herbs. Unlike former Health Secretary Juan Flavier who encouraged the use of alternative cures, the present DoH and FDA officials are anti-Filipino and pro-greedy multinationals. Multinational drug makers always raise the issue that herbal supplements didn’t go through years of laboratory research. Well, they have gone through generations of common-sense, valid observation by herbalists and users; they are known to be safe and without side effects. So why go suddenly strict about the use of herbal medicines? Because multinational drug makers are telling them to do so? Allow me to remind the DoH and FDA that Filipino farmers and growers are going to lose their jobs if they clamp on the local herbal drugs industry.
There is a potential export market for Filipino herbs, especially in the West, because herbs are becoming popular and chemical drugs are suddenly be unpopular because of their price and side-effects. In the United States and Europe, herbal makers are generally left alone and are making a serious dent on the sales of chemical drug makers. In Switzerland and Germany, herbs and supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry.
Combined with generics and the Minimum Retail Price, our thriving herbal industry can counter the multinational drug maker’s greed. We should encourage the Filipino herbal industry so it will thrive even more. Look at TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) and Ayurveda medicine. They have become multibillion-dollar industries in their own right. Sure, sometimes unsafe ingredients are found in them but they are quickly removed. The more than 1.3 billion Chinese people can’t be wrong about their TCM; neither can the 1 billion Indians be wrong with their Ayurveda medicine.
The health secretary and FDA director must be reminded that they are employees of the Filipino people and work for the Filipino people, not for the multinational drug makers.
—RICHARD YU,
richyu1980@yahoo.com
First Posted 02:16:00 09/29/2009
Why would the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) go after the Filipino makers of herb supplements when they’re just trying to sell their products? People are familiar with herbal drugs, especially those that have been around for generations. Our country is gifted with abundant sources of herbal medicine. These herbs are common, cheap and free of side effects, unlike chemical medicines.
What the DoH and FDA officials won’t admit is that they are yielding to pressure from greedy multinationals whose share of the market for expensive drugs is being eaten up by these very common herbs. Unlike former Health Secretary Juan Flavier who encouraged the use of alternative cures, the present DoH and FDA officials are anti-Filipino and pro-greedy multinationals. Multinational drug makers always raise the issue that herbal supplements didn’t go through years of laboratory research. Well, they have gone through generations of common-sense, valid observation by herbalists and users; they are known to be safe and without side effects. So why go suddenly strict about the use of herbal medicines? Because multinational drug makers are telling them to do so? Allow me to remind the DoH and FDA that Filipino farmers and growers are going to lose their jobs if they clamp on the local herbal drugs industry.
There is a potential export market for Filipino herbs, especially in the West, because herbs are becoming popular and chemical drugs are suddenly be unpopular because of their price and side-effects. In the United States and Europe, herbal makers are generally left alone and are making a serious dent on the sales of chemical drug makers. In Switzerland and Germany, herbs and supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry.
Combined with generics and the Minimum Retail Price, our thriving herbal industry can counter the multinational drug maker’s greed. We should encourage the Filipino herbal industry so it will thrive even more. Look at TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) and Ayurveda medicine. They have become multibillion-dollar industries in their own right. Sure, sometimes unsafe ingredients are found in them but they are quickly removed. The more than 1.3 billion Chinese people can’t be wrong about their TCM; neither can the 1 billion Indians be wrong with their Ayurveda medicine.
The health secretary and FDA director must be reminded that they are employees of the Filipino people and work for the Filipino people, not for the multinational drug makers.
—RICHARD YU,
richyu1980@yahoo.com
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