After about 55% of the keys tendered for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) will be deserted, the Institute of Health for Well-being (Insabi) today launched a call to purchase cancer treatments.
Among the drugs that Insabi will acquire is cetuximab, used for colon cancer, for which it will allocate 89 thousand 169 pesos; buprenorphine, patches and tablets, the same for pain control; ruxolitinib, to treat myelofibrosis, a cancer of the bone marrow; methotrexate solution for injection to slow the growth of cancer cells. On the latter it is expected to invest 2 million pesos.
Insabi published the call for market research of 382 drug codes and 602 healing material codes that it will acquire on a consolidated basis, which are part of the list of codes that were left deserted, that did not receive offers or were excluded from the UNOPS tender.
The total number of keys required is 382. The validity for this contract is as of December 31, 2021. The total number of parts required amounts to 153 million, which is equivalent to 14.6 billion pesos (estimated amount at 2020 prices).
Of the 382 keys, 163 were included in the first market investigation that Insabi issued several days ago (referring to the market investigation where 673 keys were summoned). Of these 382 keys, 284 had been included in the consolidated purchase led by UNOPS (ITB events).
A total of 253 of the 382 keys received at least one offer within the UNOPS proposal opening event (ITB events). There were codes that received an offer from the South African company Mssat Albidah Alkqrii and that presented inconsistencies in the offers entered. Only 208 keys that did receive an offer.
For the pharmaceutical industry, the call launched by the federal government through Insabi and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) was unsuccessful from the beginning.
According to its own calls, Mexico required 2,553 keys, but only 1,441 (1,042 with offer and 142 without offer) were subject to competition from 171 laboratories, of which 136 are Mexican and 41 lack sales registration with the authorities.
In the agreement, signed on July 31, 2020 between the government of Mexico, through the Health Institute for Well-being and UNOPS, for the management of the consolidated purchase of medicines and healing materials in Mexico for the period 2021- 2024, 4,068,260,919 pieces were being requested.
UNOPS, according to official results, managed to tender 558 assigned keys, which correspond to 644 million pieces and represent 40 percent of the demand of health institutions and participating entities.
Meanwhile, the more than 630 keys declared deserted involve more than 962 million pieces. Of the latter, 628 were already taken by the Institute of Health for Well-being to obtain them through a consolidated purchase.
In their calls, ten laboratories made the largest number of bids made during the UNOPS bidding process: Mssat Albidah Alkqrii, from South Africa, with 393 bids; followed by PISA, from Mexico, accused in this government of “monopoly and corruption” with 272.
Also on the list are from Mexico Psicofarma, Accord Farma, Amarox Pharma, Bioresearch from Mexico, Laboratorio Raam de Sahuayo, and the rest are from Brazil, EMS and Cristalia Produtos Quimicos Farmaceuticos, Ltda, as well as the International Pharmaceutical Agency of Guatemala.
Oncology drugs were included in the update processes: Rigatinib tablets for advanced and metastatic lung cancer that have progressed to Crizotinib, and Olaparib was included for ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. Lenvatinib for hepatocellular carcinoma, among others.
Among the patented drugs acquired are Gemcitabine Amarox Pharma, Tamoxifen from Asofarma de México, Goserelina from Astrazeneca, and Trastuzumab, Roche products.
Also from a single source is, for example, Panitumumab, for colon cancer and trastuzumab, which is used to treat a type of HER2 breast cancer.
How did the UNOPS tender come about?
By dates. On June 22, the new contracts corresponding to the consolidated purchase led by UNOPS were published. There were 215 keys for the consolidated purchase under the ITB tender contract (nomenclature used by the UNDP to acquire goods), with Amarox Pharma with 20 keys being the laboratory with the most keys awarded.
For patented, single source, oncological and prioritized drugs, a total of 201 codes have been published that were awarded, with Novartis Farmaceutica being the laboratory with the most codes so far, adding a total of 24. Of the latter, 138 drugs were from patent; 28 single-source, 4 oncological, and 31 prioritized.
In the update, on June 23, the contracts of a total of 259 keys awarded (44 keys more than yesterday) were published for the consolidated purchase under the ITB contract, Amarox Pharma being the laboratory with the most keys so far. adding a total of 20 keys.
On June 25, it was updated again and the signing of contracts was published for a total of 357 keys awarded (98 keys more than the last update), being Bioresearch de México the laboratory with the most keys so far, adding up to 27. Adding the keys patent, 558 keys were reached.
This June 26, Insabi published the call for market research of 382 drug codes and 602 healing material codes that it will acquire on a consolidated basis.
The agency charged a commission of 1.25% of the total amount of the purchase, that is, around 85 million dollars, for performing the function that the IMSS used to do.
The Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) denounced that the high specialty institutes and hospitals, as well as the second and first level medical units of the IMSS and ISSSTE are facing “a medicine shortage crisis” that translates into more than 16 million prescriptions not filled in 2020 due to the failed procurement scheme through UNOPS.
Since 2019, according to the Coparmex analysis, “we have observed an increase in the shortage of medicines. One of the most affected groups has been cancer patients, especially children, HIV patients who need antiretrovirals and the child population that requires vaccines ”.
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