The African Business Journal: PIASA

PIASA
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admin on 12 February, 2010 09:21:00
 
The continuing viability and growth of the pharmaceutical industry in South
Africa is vital if South Africa is to maintain its access to world-class
innovative medicines and have access to a growing generic medicines market.
So says Vicki Ehrich, chief operating officer of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Association of South Africa (PIASA), which, as the longest established
pharmaceutical association in South Africa, represents 19 pharmaceutical
companies. The mission of the association is to sustain a favourable environment
for the continuous development of the industry while striving to give South
Africans greater access to innovative and generic medicines with a common
goal—to improve the health status of the population and to assist the
government in delivering better healthcare to more people.
The pharmaceutical industry is operating in an ever-changing and increasingly
hostile environment.  Not only does the industry, worldwide, face increasing
challenges in terms of pressure on pricing and pressure on intellectual
property, but there is now increasing pressure to address the needs of
developing countries, the research needs for unmet medical conditions and to
assist in addressing the burden of disease in low income countries. This is
forcing a change in the model on which the industry operates and is resulting in
changes and consolidation across the industry.
Within this worldwide context, the South African pharmaceutical industry is
facing constant change to which PIASA is responding on behalf of its members.
Since 2004 price regulation has become a reality with a move to a Single Exit
Price system, which disallows any price variation based on client or volume,
with the exception of supply to the government sector. Recent government
announcements with regard to the imminent introduction of a national health
system have created wide-scale debate on the matter. Access to healthcare and
medicines is a key government priority and although there is currently universal
access to healthcare, the quality of care and the equitable distribution present
challenges to be addressed in the design of the system.
“PIASA represents both multinational companies and local companies,”
says Ehrich.  “There has to be a balance in the encouragement of
innovation and the promotion of generics,” she continued. “While
research-based companies introduce new products to the market, this creates a
pipeline for generic manufacturers which are then able to launch their own
versions once the patent expires. Without this R&D presence of the
multinationals we would not have access to the new innovations and a strong
generic pipeline.”
“PIASA has celebrated several successes over the last year,” newly
elected PIASA president, Dr. Jonathan Louw highlighted at a recent PIASA member
conference.
In line with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act, the PIASA
membership has made transformation a key priority. “We encourage our
members to embrace transformation as far and as swiftly as possible and
we’re assisting them to move towards obtaining a rating so we can
calculate an industry benchmark by consolidation of their scores,” says
Ehrich.  In a recent survey of the membership, 12 of 17 respondents indicated
that they intended to be rated on their B-BBEE scorecard at the end of the 2009
financial year—a huge move forward on the one or two companies that were
rated previously.
Due to a constructive partnership between PIASA and other industry associations,
the Code of Marketing Practice has been developed. The Code is in line with a
word-wide trend to maintain ethical standards and transparency in the dealings
of the industry with health professionals.
PIASA was very active in offering input to the recent Ministerial review of the
regulatory services of the Medicines Control Council (MCC), while delays in the
registration of medicines and the approval of clinical trials are key blocks for
manufacturers in South Africa. This process led to the approval of a new
regulatory authority, which is designed to overcome many of the drawbacks seen
in the existing system.  The industry looks forward to an implementation of the
new system in the forthcoming years.
The lack of harmonisation in regulation creates many headaches for the local
industry. Surrounding territories all have varying requirements in terms of
registration and packaging requirements. PIASA has effectively and proactively
engaged with external health authorities in the Southern African region, e.g.
Namibia, regarding technical issues affecting members as well as updating
pharmacovigilance guidelines.
PIASA has recently re-launched their website, which is intended to be an
information resource for such as the media and interested consumers as well as
for members.
“The newly refurbished website has been a culmination of our objective to
escalate our communication activities and to raise our profile. This new portal
to PIASA is intended to be a resource site of accurate and relevant industry
related information for members, journalists and the public alike.”
www.piasa.co.za