Angeles Cruz Martinez
La Jornada newspaper
Wednesday, January 5, 2022, p. 5
The Institute of Health for Wellbeing (Insabi) began the process to buy 280 drug codes, which were left deserted in the international tender that this body concluded in December. To that end, it requested quotes from national and foreign pharmaceutical laboratories.
Because in more than half of the keys, no contract was awarded because the prices exceeded the limit established by Insabi or there was no proposal from the companies, now for market research, suppliers must report aspects such as costs and difficulties in obtaining raw material, product availability and key substitutes.
They must also report the amount of product they have and could supply to the institutions. The foregoing, in order that these conditions are taken into account at the time of bidding or awarding contracts, explained members of the pharmaceutical industry.
The deadline for the delivery of the information requested by Insabi ends this Thursday, January 6, although in a meeting held yesterday between government representatives and suppliers, it was reported that the deadline is extended without giving more details.
The reasons why 280 keys were declared deserted in the previous year were: five were canceled, 84 failed to meet technical requirements, for 77 the price was unacceptable, 98 had no proposals and of these, 16 had not been convened previously, they indicate data from the consulting firm Gob360.
The international tender LA-012M7B998-E165-2021 requested 583 drug codes and among those that were declared void are several of high consumption in the public sector, such as the analgesic paracetamol, metformin (which is used as a treatment for diabetes) and losartan ( control of arterial hypertension).
In the new purchase procedure, Insabi requests 421 million pieces in total, of which 21 percent are palliative care. The global investment amount is 10 thousand 858 million pesos, estimated the consultancy. It represents 16 percent of what the federal government spends a year on the purchase of medicines.
The inputs are for the Mexican institutes of Social Security (IMSS), Social Security and Services of State Workers (Issste), the secretariats of National and Navy Defense, the undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, the Administrative Body Decentralized Prevention and Social Readaptation and the Coordinating Commission of the National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals.
In the technical specifications of the Insabi request, it is noted that it will take into account companies that offer a smaller number of products, compared to that requested. Offers made by manufacturers or legal representatives of national or foreign laboratories will also be accepted.
The document, of which The Day It has a copy, it indicates that the contracts will come into force as of their signature and will be in force until December 31, 2022. Although it indicates that the first deliveries of the products must be, at the latest, on March 31 next.
