The federal government authorized an adjustment of up to 4.5% in drug prices for this year, starting this Sunday, the 31st. The approval for the increase was published this Thursday, the 28th in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU). The percentage, which works as a maximum value, was defined by the Medicines Market Regulation Chamber (CMED).
Medicine price adjustments are annual and are based on a ceiling model calculated based on the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA). The IPCA was 4.5% in February in the last 12 months.
Companies holding drug registrations will be able to adjust prices within a period of up to fifteen days after the publication of this Resolution, as per instructions from the CMED Executive Secretariat, cites the note published in the DOU.
The other indices used in the pharmaceutical industry account, such as sector productivity, production costs not captured by the IPCA and promotion of competition, were established as zero by CMED, in a resolution announced in February.
In 2024, there will be no distinction between increases in three bands as has occurred in previous years, indicating medicines based on market competitiveness, whether more competitive, moderately concentrated or very competitive.
According to the law, the annual price adjustment defined by the government can be applied to around 10 thousand presentations of medicines available on the Brazilian retail market.
Despite being valid from this Sunday, the adjustment should not be immediate, that is, it depends on each pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry itself. Therefore, the Pharmaceutical Products Industry Union (Sindusfarma) recommends that it is important for consumers to search pharmacies and drugstores for the best offers on medicines prescribed by healthcare professionals.
“Depending on stock replenishment and the establishments’ commercial strategies, price increases may take months or not even happen”, says Sindusfarma’s executive president, Nelson Mussolini, in a statement.
The adjustment authorized by the federal government for 2024 is lower than the up to 5.60% in the price granted in 2023. As Sindusfarma notes, from 2014 to 2024 the IPCA accumulated an increase of 77.5% compared to a variation in medicine prices of 72 .7%.
“Medicines have one of the most predictable and stable price behaviors in the Brazilian economy”, says Mussolini. According to the executive, in a highly competitive environment, competition regulates prices. “For this reason, products from therapeutic classes with a wide variety of brands could be released from price control, as is already the case with over-the-counter medicines.”
