THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a local drug that may be used as an alternative to tocilizumab, the anti-inflammatory drug being used to treat severe coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made this announcement in a virtual press conference on Friday, September 3, 2021.
She said they were just waiting for the clinical practice guidelines (CPG) group and specialty medicine societies to recommend this drug for the treatment of severe Covid-19.
Another drug, baricitinib, is also under study. Baricitinib is an oral preparation with anti-inflammatory properties that is also being used to treat rheumatoid arthritis like tocilizumab.
Vergeire said this is already being used in other countries. In the Philippines, the FDA has yet to authorize the drug for Covid-19.
"We are studying this so we can have an immediate alternative to tocilizumab," she said.
Tocilizumab, an intravenous anti-inflammatory drug, is in short supply amid the rise in Covid-19 cases across the country.
Vergeire said the Philippine unit of Roche, manufacturer of tocilizumab, has advised that there might not be any supply until the end of 2021.
Because of the high demand and lack of supply, the price of tocilizumab has also soared to over P100,000 per 400mg/20mL vial.
The prices of tocilizumab and other investigational drugs being used to treat Covid-19 are regulated through Executive Order 104-2020 that President Rodrigo Duterte issued last year.
The updated maximum retail prices of tocilizumab, as contained in DOH Department Circular 2021-0291 issued on July 6, 2021, range from P8,303.57 for the 80mg/4mL vial to P25,726.81 for the 400mg/20mL vial.
Vergeire stressed Friday that public and private retail outlets, including hospital pharmacies, must follow the MRP.
"They can't sell this at a price higher than the MRP," she said.
Violators will be penalized under Republic Act 9502, or the Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008.
"We are appealing to the hospitals, drugstores — please do not take advantage of the situation. Let's not add to the agony of our countrymen," she said. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / VoxPop Philippines)