The Comprehensive Medical Care Program and three business chambers of the pharmaceutical sector achieved an initial agreement on the renegotiation of the Drug Purchase Agreement. The agreement would take effect on April 1st. It supposes a discount of 60 percent average for oncological drugs, and an average discount of 5 percent in all drugs, that would be retroactive to February.

For cancer drugs and special treatments, PAMI promotes three types of discounts according to the drug’s competitiveness scenario. When the product in question is offered by a single supplier, the discount will be 46 per cent. When it is supplied by 5 suppliers, the decrease will be 63 percent. In a scenario of more than five providers, it will be 70 percent.

The renegotiation of the agreement, which began January 2018, is being carried out between PAMI and the Industrial Chamber of Argentine Pharmaceutical Laboratories (CILFA), the Argentine Chamber of Medicinal Specialties (CAEME) and the Chamber of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Cooperala).

PAMI intended to reduce expenses by 11 percent for the group of drugs purchased, but after the negotiations the agreement will contain a reduction of 5 points. In any case, in PAMI they qualify the agreement as profitable and calculate that it will result in savings of approximately 35 million dollars per year.

The agreement also contemplates that the price will be adjusted quarterly and sets a limit to the increase. It can not exceed 70 percent of the inflation calculated in the previous quarter by the INDEC. The updates are scheduled for June, September, December and March 2019.