Bio Screening Industry News

Source: Manila Times - Philippines

By Ayn Veronica L. de Jesus

SUPERIOR health-care accessibility is one indicator of an economy’s vigor. But such a service can’t be merely left for the government to provide. The private sector has a hefty stake in ensuring that medicines and services are available to the consumers.

The plateauing of existing diseases
and the emergence of new ones is
driving companies to develop
stronger treatments.

In the Philippines, the health-care sector has been nothing more than an afterthought in the government’s budget. Even with that, pharmaceutical companies are trying to do their fair share to improve the system by launching related programs, providing significant discounts on medicines and reaching out to the population via medical missions.

Painstaking effort

For its part, the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, is stepping up research and development efforts that could launch 20 new medicines by the end of 2009.

In the pipeline are medicines for nervous system disorders, cardiovascular diseases, oncology, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, inflammation and respiratory diseases.

In 2005 the company released treatments for macular degeneration (leading cause of blindness in the elderly) and for renal cancer. This year, the company is gearing up to unveil medicines to cure candidiasis and insomnia, and an antibiotic for skin and soft tissue infection; and smoking addiction. It will also introduce an inhaled form of insulin.

The company time table includes HIV/AIDS treatment (2007); osteoporosis prevention medicine, bipolar disorder treatment, medicine that will raise HDL while lowering LDL (2008); and stroke, cancer, obesity, macular degeneration, pain treatments (2009).

Villanueva explained that, “It takes about 11 to 15 years and $800 million before a compound can reach patients based on the company’s stringent rules in discovery, screening and clinical trials.” She added that out of nearly 7 million compounds tested, only one on average will reach the market after more than a decade of research and development.

Over that period, a compound must undergo phases of clinical pharmacology, preclinical safety, exploratory development and full development before it reaches the market. Factors that could delay or halt a compound’s development include complexity or lack of information about a disease, adverse reactions among tested patients, poor absorption by the body, side effects, safety, instability and its impracticality to produce.

Business and social institution

Noel Isberto, vice president for corporate affairs of GlaxoSmithKline, said that his company is developing medicines to treat cervical cancer for women, as well as those for asthma, diabetes and hypertension.

These medicines will be tied to the company’s Value Health program, which was launched in 2004. After the pilot year, GSK is ready this year to fully forge ahead with the program with the addition of more medicines.

The program offers significant price reductions of up to 30 percent on some original branded medicines that guarantee superior quality, efficacy, safety and affordability. To avail of these discounts, all patient has to do is to voluntarily register upon receiving doctor’s prescriptions of medicines included in the program. Upon the doctor’s recommendation, the patient can officially join the program.

Besides the much-reduced prices, enrollment in the program entitles the patient to information through newsletters and other printed materials and regular checkups.

The medicines include those for the treatment of asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

“Pharmaceutics is a business and social institution because medicine is a right, and pharmaceutics is a responsibility,” said Isberto.

Dr. Cesar Recto, medical director of Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) said that, “cancer is about to overtake cardiovascular disease as the number one killer” worldwide. Although not able to cite actual figures, he said this was the conclusion of studies conducted in the United States, showing that “the rate of cardiovascular diseases is plateauing.”

As such, MSD is shifting its focus toward oncology treatments.

As well, the company is in the thick of developing treatments for cholesterol normalization, osteoporosis, arthritis, antibiotics and diabetes, and is researching treatments for diseases of the central nervous system such as Parkinson’s and depression.

At the moment, MSD has not set up any long-term programs, such as the GSK’s Value Health, but Recto said some of the company’s short-term programs are up for review this year.

Facing the challenges

Even as the companies increase investments and accelerate R&D efforts, many obstacles need to be hurdled in 2006 and the years ahead.

One is the continued local manufacture and distribution or importation of counterfeit medicines.

While the companies are knowledgeable in the telltale signs of a fake drug—such as poor printing quality on the packaging, differences in the company logo, spelling errors—consumers still need to be educated. “We are looking for new technology” that will thwart the efforts of counterfeiters, said Isberto of GSK.

One sure sign of a counterfeit drug is its bargain basement price. “Don’t look for bargains when it comes to medicines,” Isberto said. He added that consumers should only buy from leading and reliable drug stores, and not from friends or individual peddlers.

Of the P80-billion value of pharmaceutical market, 8 to 10 percent succumb to fake drugs, the biggest manufacturers of which are China and India.

Pfizer’s Villanueva said another difficulty the industry faces is the level of patient compliance in following doctors’ prescriptions.

“Patients are directed to take the medicine for 30 days, but they only take it for 22 days,” she said, referring to a company studies. “We are discovering the rate of compliance through our company programs,” she said.

Low patient compliance is also true for patients with chronic diseases, meaning diseases that require a lifetime of medication.

MSD’s Recto said that another challenge is that of herbal and organic medicines.

“Filipinos have no hesitation to buy herbal medicines that have not been studied, but think twice before buying well-researched medicine from the pharmaceutical companies,” he lamented. He ironically noted that herbal medicines promise to alleviate or eliminate diseases, yet a warning on their packaging states, “No approved therapeutic effects.”

“Many patients stop taking their medicines and shift to herbal treatments. But herbal medicines are not also cheap.” He warned that consumers should “be wary of herbal products that promise to be cure-alls.”