Labormed wants drugs priced below RON 10 off reimbursed medicines list

Newsroom 10/02/2015 | 18:02

Pharma producer Labormed, part of Alvogen, is reassessing its medicines portfolio until March in order to take off products cheaper than RON 10 (EUR 2.25) from the reimbursed medicines list, as its sales rose 2 percent in value last year and the clawback tax grew by 35 percent.

For the products that have already become unprofitable though the new clawback percentage, Labormed will request, in first instance, their exclusion from the compensation lists, after which the company will take into account the end of the manufacturing process and the withdrawal from the market. For the second step, the process is more complicated as the legislation forces manufacturers to notify the National Agency for Medicines 12 months before the withdrawal of a product from the market for commercial reasons, says the company according to Mediafax.

Considering that last year the consumption of drugs manufactured by Labormed increased in value by 2 percent compared to 2013, and the amount of clawback payments rose by 35 percent, according to reports received from the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), the company is rethinking its activity in Romania.

Alvogen American company is present on the pharmaceutical market in Romania since early 2010, initially focusing on sales and marketing activities for the company’s newly launched products.

In December 2012, Alvogen bought Labormed, which owns a drugs’ plant in Bucharest, destined primarily to cardiovascular disorders, gastrointestinal and central nervous system’s treatment.