30 PERCENT OF DRUGS FAKE, SAYS BFAD

NEARLY 30 percent of the drugs in the country's drug market are
counterfeit, according to a Bureau of Food and Drugs official.

Rene Galicia, who represented BFAD at a National Bureau of Investigation
meeting on intellectual property rights, said on Tuesday that counterfeit
drugs continue to spread in the country and that they account for 20 to 30
percent of the local drug market.

"More than the intellectual property violation, the prevalence of
counterfeit drugs in Asia is on the rise, according to a World Health
Organization report," Galicia said.

But he clarified that the counterfeit drugs are not all ineffective in
preventing or curing diseases. He said many of these were just unregistered
with the BFAD.

"Thirty percent does not mean 30 percent of drugs are inefficient," he
explained. "They may even be genuine, just unregistered."

He said syndicates are manufacturing fake drugs in a "sophisticated
manner," requiring law enforcement agencies to increase their budgets to go
after the criminals.

During the meeting, NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division head Rafael
Ragos urged drug firms to file formal complaints so that law enforcers
could crack down on the syndicates.