Pharma industry needs urgent reforms

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) has stressed the necessity of updating existing drug laws to align with global trends for the benefit of patients and the pharmaceutical industry.

“Local industries are shutting down due to historically high input costs, the highest inflation, and bank markup rates in Asia. Multinationals are vanishing due to excessive regulations. Currently, only four multinational companies are operating in the country, all of which have recently reported historically high losses,” PPMA Chairman Mian Khalid Misbah stated on Wednesday.

While addressing the media, he highlighted that patients are the ultimate sufferers, and the situation is deteriorating. “There is an urgent need for government intervention to save the pharmaceutical industry for the greater good of the country and its surrounding population.”

“The world has progressed, but we remain stagnant. India sets prices for 384 medicines listed in the WHO’s essential drug list. Bangladesh has gone a step further by regulating only 117 drugs, leaving the rest to market forces,” Misbah noted.

The PPMA chairman stated that the federal government has taken a significant step by deregulating prices of non-essential drugs, which will provide much-needed relief and attract investment to the sector. However, he stressed that more must be done to align pharmaceutical sector regulations with those of neighboring countries and make it an attractive investment market.

“Inordinate delays in setting/revising prices of hundreds of essential drugs have led to severe shortages. Such prolonged delays allow counterfeit and smuggled medicines to enter the market. Timely policy implementation will improve medicine availability, attract FDI, and encourage MNCs to remain in Pakistan,” underscored the PPMA chairman.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th2024.

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