Venezuelan Generics Law Draft Queried

Draft pharmaceutical legislation which is aimed at promoting the development of generic drug products in Venezuela has been brought into question by Procompetencia, the country's organization for the promotion of free competition.

The law's basic intention is to guarantee access and availability of pharmaceuticals to the entire Venezuelan population by means of a system of control over the generics sector, according to Procompetencia. However, it adds, the situation is less clear than it appears, because the guarantee would depend on the maintenance of supervision over all phases of production, and the maintenance of health norms.

Moreover, the organization points out that while the government envisages dividing generics production between the 200 or so drugmakers operating in the country, the new law would not oblige any of them to produce generics.