Supplying Medicines and Supplements to the Philippines

The Philippines is one of Southeast Asia's largest pharmaceutical markets and one of the most open to imports, with fast registration routes for products approved by trusted regulators and both ACTD and ICH CTD dossiers accepted.

It is also one of the few countries where people search for supplement manufacturers on Google: 'manufacturer of multivitamins' and 'multivitamins manufacturer' together get over 2,000 searches a month.

the Philippines at a glance

How to supply medicines to the Philippines

1. Work with a licensed importer. Your Philippine partner needs an FDA licence to operate as importer or distributor.
2. Prepare the dossier. ACTD or ICH CTD, a CoPP, GMP evidence and stability data for hot and humid climates.
3. Use a fast route if you can. If the product is approved by a reference regulator, the abridged or verification route can cut the review to 30–45 working days. The product must be identical to the reference-approved one.
4. Supply. Private distributors, hospital groups and pharmacy chains, or government buyers through PhilGEPS.

Unregistered medicines can be brought in for specific patients under a Compassionate Special Permit, under rules updated in December 2025. We source such products through our named-patient service. See named-patient and special import and government tender supply.

Supplements

Food supplements are registered with FDA Philippines, and their labels must carry the statement 'No approved therapeutic claims'. Make sure your marketing matches that. We help brands get supplements made under their own label by GMP-certified contract manufacturers: see nutraceutical private label.

What people in the Philippines search for

Semrush data from October 2026 shows that the biggest supplement searches in the Philippines are vitamin D and magnesium glycinate (about 49,500 a month each), followed by vitamin B complex, vitamin C, creatine, probiotics, collagen and electrolytes. Among medicines, pain relievers, acid reducers, statins and allergy medicines lead.

Filipinos mostly search in English. Besides vitamin D, magnesium glycinate and B complex, people type plain “magnesium” and “protein” (about 33,100 a month each) (Semrush, October 2026). For medicines they use English generic names, such as “febuxostat” (33,600), “amlodipine” (33,400), “losartan” (32,980), “prednisone” (32,400) and “clopidogrel” (31,700). Everyday Filipino words show up too: “gamot” (medicine) gets between 10,000 and 100,000 searches a month and “botika” (pharmacy) between 1,000 and 10,000 (Google Keyword Planner, October 2026).

How importers and distributors in the Philippines search

“manufacturer of multivitamins” gets about 1,300 searches a month and “multivitamins manufacturer” about 1,000, with “private label” at about 260 and “contract manufacturing” at 140 (Semrush, October 2026). In Google Keyword Planner, “pharmaceutical companies in the philippines” gets between 1,000 and 10,000 searches a month and “lto fda” (the FDA licence to operate) between 100 and 1,000. Trade searches in Filipino, such as “supplier ng gamot” or “distributor ng gamot”, barely register, so English is the language of the trade.

Originator brands searched by name include Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide), Daflon (diosmin and hesperidin), Ozempic (semaglutide), Lasix (furosemide), Celebrex (celecoxib) and Jardiance (empagliflozin). Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the medicine.

Supplements we can help you make

The most searched medicines include celecoxib (about 57,600 searches a month), omeprazole, atorvastatin, cetirizine, azithromycin and ambroxol.

Documents to ask your supplier for

• A Certificate of a Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) in WHO format.
• The plant's GMP evidence, such as a WHO-GMP, EU-GMP or PIC/S certificate, plus any inspection by your regulator.
• The registration dossier (CTD or ACTD), with bioequivalence data for generics where required.
• Stability data for hot climates.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch.

Not sure a supplier is genuine? Read how to verify a pharmaceutical supplier. For the neighbouring markets, see our Southeast Asia (ASEAN) import guide.

Frequently asked questions