COVID-19 Cases Soar, KPPU: Drug Prices Rise And Rare, Ivermectin Is Selling IDR 505,000

JAKARTA - The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) found that many drug prices during the COVID-19 pandemic were sold above the highest retail price (HET). For example in Jakarta, Bandung to Bangka Belitung.

"In summary, there was a vacancy in the stock of drugs and there were also found prices that passed the HET. Then there was a vacancy in oxygen cylinders", said KPPU's Director of Economy, M. Zulfirmansyah, in a press conference, Wednesday, July 7.

On the same occasion, the KPPU Regional Office III for the provinces of West Java, DKI Jakarta, and Banten Province, for example, found many violations of the selling price of COVID drugs. In West Java, the price of Ivermectin 12 mg is IDR 505,500 per 10 pills, which exceeds the HET of IDR 7,500 per tablet.

Meanwhile, the price of Remeva 100 mg injection which is a type of Remdesivir 100 mg injection in Bandung is sold for IDR 600 thousand which exceeds the HET of IDR 510 thousand.

Head of Regional Office III of KPPU Aru Armando said there were also many violations in DKI Jakarta. Based on the results of the KPPU's survey, the price of Favipirapir 200 mg ranges from IDR 55,000 to IDR 80,000 per pill, which exceeds the HET of IDR 22,500 per tablet. While the price of Remdesivir 100 mg per vial of injection is IDR 2.2 million which exceeds the HET of IDR 510 thousand per vial.

The price of Oseltamivir 75 mg capsules ranges from IDR 50 thousand to IDR 76 thousand per capsule, which exceeds the HET of IDR 26 thousand. The price of ivermectin 12 mg tablets is IDR 59 thousand per tablet which exceeds the HET of IDR 7,500 per tablet.

"Then the price of Azithromycin 500 mg ranges from IDR 15,000 to IDR 19,000 per tablet, which exceeds the HET of IDR 1,700 per tablet", he explained.

Meanwhile, Head of Regional Office II, Wahyu Bekti, said that in his working area covering Lampung, Bengkulu, Bangka Belitung, South Sumatra, and Jambi, the price of drugs for handling the COVID-19 pandemic was sold above HET.

Based on the monitoring, there are three types of drugs that are still sold above the highest retail price or HET, namely Favipiravir 200 mg, Ivermectin 12 mg, and Azithromycin 500 mg", said Bekti.

Then, continued Bekti, during the survey process it was also found that there were two brands of Favipiravir, the price of one type of drug in Lampung was already below the HET. However, for the Avigan brand, it is still sold above HET.

"As we can see in Lampung and Babel, they are still sold above the HET price for the Avigan brand. The HET price is 22,500, in Lampung, it is sold for IDR 65,000. In Bangka Belitung, it is worth IDR 63,150", he explained.

In North Sumatra, COVID-19 therapeutic drugs are scarce

Meanwhile, the Head of the KPPU Regional Office Kanwil I Medan, Ramli Simanjuntak, said that there was a shortage of drugs for handling COVID-19 in North Sumatra, Aceh, Riau, Riau Islands, and West Sumatra.

"For the price of the medicine, our monitoring is that the first is that there is a shortage of medicine from COVID-19", he said.

In several monitored pharmacies, said Ramli, once there was the unavailability of stock. Then also the price of drugs for COVID-19 was above HET and the stock was never empty. For example, Azithromycin 500 mg (infused) HET IDR 95,400, the market price is IDR 107,240 or an increase of 12.41 percent.

"Intravenous Immunoglobulin 5 percent 50 ml (infusion) is empty. Likewise, Tocilizumab 400 mg per 20 ml (infusion) and Tocilizumab 80 mg per 4 ml (infusion)", he explained.