• Home
• »  National News
• » Government allows more generic drug imports

Government allows more generic drug imports

By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director

Friday, May 14, 2010

The Colombian government has allowed pharmacies in the country to import the generic form of eight drugs whose costs are currently rising.

In order to make this move, the government has appealed to a legal provision called “parallel imports” which allows it to import the generic versions of these drugs without seeking permission from the laboratories who originally patented the medicines.

The new substances that will be imported include Kaletra, a drug used to treat HIV-AIDS that is distributed by Abbott Labs.
 
The government has decided to approve imports of the generic version of Kaletra because the lab is currently selling the drug in Colombia for a price higher than what it sells it for in neighboring countries like Brazil.

According to international intellectual property treaties, governments can allow for parallel imports when a country´s public health is at risk.

Part of the reason for the government to allow parallel imports at this time is also to alleviate financial strains on Colombia´s health system, decreasing the amount of money that public hospitals are spending on drugs for their patients.

The eight products whose generic versions will be imported also include the Rotarix Vaccine and nutritional supplements like Ensure and Pediasure.