Pain drug producer market withdrawal stirs debate about state subvention for cancer drugs in Romania

Swiss morphine producer Mundipharma recently announced its withdrawal from the Romanian market due to the clawback tax and longer payment terms.The producer cut the size of its office in Bucharest and of its operations in the country. On the Romanian market, Mundipharma previously sold drugs for chronic to moderate pain caused by cancer and non-malignant conditions, covering over half of this market, according to media reports. Cancer patients in Romania did not receive enough drugs over the past weeks. These drugs, which account for a EUR 4 million market a year, are sold by prescription and covered by the state through the National Health Insurance House. Mundipharma sells only pills, which make 57 percent of the market, according to its data. Other companies, like Zentiva, produce morphine solution, which can be injected. Its withdrawal from the market stirred media debate and a TV clash between journalist Mihai Gadea of Antena 3 TV station and Nicolae Duta, the head of the National Health Insurance House. The journalist accused the House that it imposed an unbearable tax on the producer. The journalist ended up calling Duta 'thick-skinned' and ' a moron'. Mundipharma complained about the long payment terms, over 300 days, as well as about the low prices in Romania, where prescription drugs are regulated by the state. The clawback tax, of 17.2 percent of sales, was also among the reasons which triggered shrinking activity for the Swiss producer. The company faced supply problems after having exceeded the supply loans that it has with the distributors of its products, meaning it could not deliver new batches of products before being paid for previous deliveries. The Cancer Patients' Federation in Romania has similar complaints. The lack of morphine is not the only problem cancer patients have to face in Romania, and many had to buy their own treatments from abroad. “The clawback system and unsustainable pricing for prescribed medicine led to a lack of drugs on the Romanian market,” reads a statement from the Association. editor@romania-insider.com