THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that 22 more medicines for different diseases have been endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) to make them more accessible to consumers.
Under FDA Advisory No. 2024-0329, signed by Director General Samuel Zacate, the regulatory body endorsed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) the inclusion of 14 drugs for cancer, four drugs for hypertension, and four drugs for mental illness in the list of medicines exempt from the 12-percent VAT.
The advisory was dated February 15 but was released on the FDA website only on Monday.
The cancer medicines to be exempted from VAT are the following
Sonidegib (as phosphate) 200 milligram (mg) capsule
Pemetrexed (as disodium heptahydrate) 100 mg powder
Asciminib (as hydrochloride) in both 20 mg and 40 mg tablets
Palbociclib in 75 mg, 100 mg, and 125 mg tablets
Pemetrexed (as disodium hemipentahydrate) 100 mg powder for infusion and 10 mg/mL solution for injection
Cabazitaxel 60 mg/1.5 mL concentrate for solution for injection
Entrectinib 100 mg and 200 mg capsules
For hypertension, the medicines were Losartan Potassium+Amlodipine (as besilate) in 100 mg/10 mg and 100 mg/5 mg tablets, and Irbesartan+Amlodipine (as besilate) in 300 mg/5 mg and 300 mg/10 mg tablets.
The FDA also endorsed Cariprazine (as hydrochloride) in 1.5 mg, 3 mg, 4.5 mg, and 6 mg capsules to be VAT-free. Cariprazine is currently used to treat schizophrenia, and manic or mixed episodes and depressive episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
The VAT exemption of these medicines took effect on Feb. 19.
As an example of the effect of the VAT exemption, a piece of a film-coated tablet of a certain brand of Losartan Potassium+Amlodipine (as besilate) 100 mg/5 mg, which is used to treat mild to moderate hypertension by effectively lowering blood pressure, is currently being sold by a popular drugstore chain at P30.75, inclusive of VAT.
Now VAT-free, its price will go down by 10.7 percent to P27.45.
Senior citizens and persons with disabilities entitled to an additional 20-percent discount under the law can buy the same drug at an even lower price of P21.96—or 28.6 percent lower than its original retail price of P30.75.
The 22 medicines are in addition to the more than 2,000 drugs indicated for the prevention and management of diabetes, hypertension, cancer, high cholesterol, mental illnesses, tuberculosis and kidney diseases, as well as medicines and medical devices specifically used for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, that were exempted from VAT under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or Train Act or TRAIN Act (Republic Act No. 10963) andthe Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act (RA 11534.), as posted on Inquirer.net
Under RA 11534, the Department of Health and the FDA will identify the medicines to be included in the List of VAT-Exempt Health Products that are eventually transmitted to the BIR.
Zacate had endorsed the 22 new drugs under the latest FDA advisory through a letter dated Feb. 5 to Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr.
The effectivity of the VAT exemption of the covered medicines and medical devices under the CREATE Act will be on the date when the FDA publishes the updated list, which can be accessed at the FDA Verificatino Portal.
