15 more medicines added to VAT-exempt list—FDA

A total of 15 more medicines have been included in FDA’s list of drug products that are exempted from value-added tax (VAT).

The Philippine STAR reported that the Food and Drug Administration endorsed additional VAT-exempt health items, making them more affordable and accessible to the public.

Part of the update are cancer medicines such as Avelumab 200 mg/10 mL (20 mg/mL concentrate solution for infusion); Acalabrutinib 100 mg capsule; Olaparib 100 mg tablet; Olaparib 150 mg tablet; Trastuzumab 440 mg lyophilized powder for solution for infusion; Trastuzumab 150 mg lyophilized powder for solution for infusion; and Trastuzumab deruxtecan 100 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion.

Others include Rosuvastatin (as Calcium) 10 mg tablet for high cholesterol; Olmesartan medoxomil 10 mg tablet, Perindopril (as arginine) 5 mg tablet; Perindopril (as arginine) 10 mg tablet, Indapamide + Amlodipine (as besilate) 1.5 mg/10 mg tablet, and Indapamide + Amlodipine (as besilate) 1.5 mg/5mg tablet for hypertension; Sodium Valproate 200 mg/5 mL oral solution and Valproic Acid 250 mg/5 mL syrup for mental illness.

RA No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act states that certain drug items, including those for hypertension, cancer, mental illnesses, tuberculosis, kidney diseases, diabetes, and cholesterol shall be VAT-exempt to alleviate the financial burden on patients.

The FDA identifies and endorses the medicines to other agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Fifty-nine medicines were exempted in 2023.

Twenty-two medications were exempted in January and twenty others in March. (with reports from Rhodina J. Villanueva)