Buenos Aires, March 22 (NA) – The Secretary of Deregulation, Alejandro Cacace, assured that no medicine has to be withdrawn from the market or its price increased due to the changes in the intellectual property regime promoted by the Government.
The official sought to bring calm in the face of the criticism generated by the regulatory modification and explained that the measure does not affect currently available medicines. "It's an incentive from now on, for new drugs that are brought in and arrive faster," he stated.
Cacace detailed that the reform implied the repeal of a resolution in force since 2012 that, according to him, imposed additional restrictions for the approval of pharmaceutical patents. "In practice, it meant that patents were practically not granted or had a very high rejection rate," he explained on Splendid AM 990.
In this sense, he emphasized that the new scheme respects international standards and maintains the duration of patents at 20 years. "It recognizes that if someone develops a drug or a technology, that must be recognized," he affirmed.
Cacace denied that the reforms in pharmaceutical patents have effects on the costs of the health system. "We want to convey tranquility to the citizenship: this is not going to generate price increases or impact on fees," he insisted.
The axis of the reform, as he explained, is to reverse the lack of incentives for investment in the sector. "This discouraged the arrival of new therapies and the investment of foreign laboratories," he indicated, and added that the new regulation seeks to accelerate access to innovations.
On the other hand, Cacace underlined the need to advance with similar reforms in the agricultural sector, particularly in the seed market. "Not recognizing the rent of innovation generates underinvestment and loss of productivity," he warned.
Finally, he framed these measures within a broader agenda of deregulation. "We have already modified or repealed around 15,000 regulations," he specified, although he recognized that there is still a long way to go. "There is a long way to go to achieve full integration into developed markets," he concluded.
"There were already concrete signals after the regulatory change," he highlighted in this regard. "The creation of a global Pfizer research center in Argentina was announced," he affirmed, and anticipated the arrival of more projects linked to clinical research.
The official also linked the reform with the economic opening strategy. "Integrating into the world implies respecting the rules of intellectual property," he pointed out, and recalled that Argentina seeks to align with its trading partners.
