Maria Cojocaru-Toma, the freshly appointed director of the Medicines Agency, has called on the pharmacies to refrain from raising the prices of the drugs the demand for which traditionally increases in the cold season, in particular antiviral and anti-flu medicines, Info-Prim Neo reports. Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Maria Cojocaru-Toma announced that by December the National Register of Medicines Prices will be updated to include the average producers prices. From January 1, the Agency will use these prices in considering the applications for import authorization and if the prices shown by the applicants are deemed inflated, authorization will be denied. Under a Government decision, the total mark-up to the drug prices shall not exceed 40% of the producer prices. The recommended proportions are 15% for the importers and 25% for the retailers. According to statistics presented by the Medicines Agency, drugs rose in price by an average of 16% last year and by 6.7% in the first quarter of this year. In the Republic of Moldova there are 76 hospital pharmacies, 37 pharmaceutical assistance units within family healthcare centers, with 949 subsidiaries in rural areas.