CHILE

On March 1, the Joint Committee on Pharmaceuticals II approved the bill on generic bioequivalent drugs. The initiative now passes to the Finance Committee to review the articles added in relation to fiscal expenditure, after which it will be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies. You may access the comparison by clicking here.

The bill seeks to modify the Health Code to regulate generic bioequivalent drugs and to avoid the vertical integration of laboratories and pharmacies. On this occasion, the legislators voted in favor of the pending articles related to the regulation of prices and dispensing fees; the categorization of therapeutic groups; and the creation of the Compulsory Medication Intermediation Fund. 

It should be recalled that the text has been under discussion in Congress for seven years. The bill had already been dealt with in both chambers but due to the failure to reach an agreement between them, it was sent to a Joint Committee where it remained for the last two years. With the approval of the initiative in this committee, the text now passes to be voted in the Chamber of Deputies, however, it must first pass through the Finance Committee for it to ratify the added articles that affect fiscal spending.

It should be noted that the most complex milestone in the approach to this initiative was the resolution of the Joint Committee. Now, with this decision of the committee, the bill could become law in the short term.