The Philippine government is pushing for a second round of drug price cuts and for drug companies to voluntarily halve their prices. Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis are just a few of the companies that may be targeted to lower prices of blockbuster drugs with few generic competitors. Drugmakers volunteered to lower their prices already in 2008.
This second round may involve more than 20 medicines. Some companies have already submitted lists of proposed price reductions for this second round to the government. The previous drug cut has already led to job losses, decreased profit margins, and lower sales volume.