Pakistan govt notifies prices for 35 new life-saving medicines

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has issued long-awaited notification of fixation of maximum retail price (MRP) of 35 advanced life-saving drugs, it was learnt on Friday.

The medicines include treatments for cancer, heart disease, and typhoid.

“The notification has enabled pharmaceutical manufacturers to begin commercial production and/or import the notified medicines. Such processes may take one to two months to make the medicines available in markets.” Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) senior vice chairman Kamran Nasir told Business Recorder.

“The maximum retail price…shall not be applicable on drugs whose registrations under sub-rule (4) of rule 29 of the Drugs (Licensing, Registration and Advertising) Rules, 1976 were issued before the issuance of this notification, unless otherwise stated expressly,” read the notification.

The government would now consider fixing MRP for remaining 45 advanced essential medicines in the second phase, as pharmaceutical companies applied for registration and price fixation for a total of 80 medicines over the last two years, Nasir said.

The approval for price fixation and now issuance of the notification would help improve the availability of several high-priority therapies that had remained inaccessible due to prolonged delays in price fixation, forcing patients to either go without treatment or depend on costly and often unregulated smuggled medicines, as per industry officials.

The notification will also allow the pharmaceutical industry to export such medicines to other countries.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is close to achieve the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Level 3 certification in the upcoming months, which would enable the local pharmaceutical firms to expand their exports, Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal said earlier this week.

Moreover, Pakistan’s pharmaceutical companies have signed 10 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Chinese firms, paving the way for the local manufacturing of raw materials for medicines (API/ active pharmaceutical ingredients).

The MoUs would help establish collaboration for vaccine production locally, transfer of technology, and attracting both foreign and domestic investment into the country.