Lawmakers called down the Food and Drug Administration over the perceived delay in the approval of new drug applications, including potential medicines for the deadly COVID-19.
In Thursday’s hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, lawmakers took turns grilling FDA Director General Eric Domingo on the guidelines and policies of the FDA and the Department of Health that might hamper public health service delivery, especially amid the pandemic.
Committee chair DIWA Party-list Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay said the FDA and DOH issuances “must be up to speed so the government may immediately contain the spread of the coronavirus and its variants.”
“It is the mandate of this committee to identify malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance committed by public officials and to make appropriate recommendations in aid of legislation,” Aglipay said.
The House panel took a cue from Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera who have jointly filed House Resolution 1711 calling for a congressional inquiry into the policies and guidelines for the registration, utilization, manufacture, distribution or sale of COVID-19 treatment drugs, which “appear to be detrimental to public interest.”
During the hearing, representatives from the Philippine Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry Inc. and the Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association revealed that as of March 29, a total of 1,025 applications for certificate of product registration, 50 for license to operate, and 381 for automatic renewal have been pending with the FDA since 2015.
They even claimed that the difficulty in registering drug products in the Philippines has prompted some multinational pharmaceutical firms to leave the country and transfer their manufacturing plants to Thailand and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers lamented the unnecessary delay in the approval of Ivermectin and Leronlimab for use in treating COVID-19, as well as the lack of supply of Midazolam, Tocilizumab and other repurposed drugs for the treatment of the coronavirus disease.
Pending the results of local clinical trials on Ivermectin, Domingo pointed out that the FDA has granted some hospitals compassionate special permits for its use to treat COVID-19 patients.
At this juncture, Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza accused the FDA of “dribbling” the issue on ivermectin. He even went further by commenting that the current FDA chief was not fit for the job.
In her interpellation, Herrera said it was high time the FDA expanded the list of drug products under emergency use to give doctors and patients more choices of COVID-19 medicines.
To address the lack of supply of repurposed COVID-19 drugs, Herrera called on the FDA and DOH to strengthen the capacity of local drug manufacturers to address the pharmaceutical needs of the public amid the COVID-19 crisis.
“We should actively push for self-sufficiency of our own pharmas to ensure accessibility and affordability of life-saving drugs,” she pointed out.
The party-list lawmaker also asked the DOH to consider suspending Department Order 2013-0021 that requires local pharmaceuticals to register with the 33-step ASEAN guidelines before they can manufacture and market prescription drugs, and go back for the meantime to the 12-step national guidelines.
The inquiry focused on FDA Circular 2020-12, titled “Guidelines for the Registration of Drug Products under Emergency Use for the Coronavirus Disease 2019,” and DOH’s Department Memorandum No. 2020-0138 adopting clinical practice guidelines on COVID-19.
The FDA circular and other related guidelines have been questioned for being arbitrary, bureaucratic, and inhumane for causing unnecessary delays in the approval and clearance of drugs and therapeutics for emergency use authorization or for use of drugs under compassionate special permit against COVID-19.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr shared the views of his fellow legislators as he reiterated the need for a legislation that would protect all vaccinated individuals against those who will refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, Anakalusugan party-list lawmaker Mike Defensor urged the Department of Health and the Department of Science and Technology to speed up clinical trials on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
“Lives are at stake here. We could save many lives with the use of this popular P35-per-tablet experimental drug. The results of the trials ordered by President Duterte should be available soon,” Defensor said in a statement.
“The poor can afford a P35 drug. In the case of its two other rivals, they cost thousands, if one can find them in the market,” he said.