Multinational drug maker denies exit ‘rumours’

E-Paper | March 11, 2026

KARACHI: After the exit of four multinational pharmaceuticals companies from Pakistan in the last two years, the market is abuzz with rumours about departure of another foreign drug giant.

When contacted people who follow drug market closely said US-based company Pfizer has already started offloading employees, trimming marketing drive and has suspended introduction of new drugs in Pakistan.

Sources said that under cost-cutting measures, the company has shed 200 to 300 employees in the last two years owing to declining sales.

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Some chemists said they had also been hearing about a possible sale of Pfizer for sometime. “The company has not unveiled any new product in the last two years,” they added.

However, a spokesman for Pfizer Pakistan Ltd mailed their response to Dawn queries. The company asserted: “is fully committed to maintaining its operations in Pakistan”.

He said the drug maker was constantly striving to be efficient and effective as an organisation to meet the demands of a constantly evolving and increasingly difficult marketplace.

In 2014, the company realigned its operations after a rigorous review of its structure and competencies required for the future. “We can confirm that we had to let go of approximately 200 employees as part of this restructuring,” the spokesman said.

Pfizer believes in making investments to expand access to its medicines and as a research-based pharmaceutical company, he said, adding that the company intends to bring new and innovative therapies to Pakistan in the future as well.

“Unfortunately due to the several challenges we face in the market, our sales and growth figures have declined compared to last year,” he said, without disclosing any figures.

He said the company has moved towards creating a more focused Pfizer Pakistan, where it will optimise not only its product portfolio, but also the deployment of its resources. “We are confident that these changes will best position Pfizer Pakistan in the marketplace, allow us to be more competitive.”

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2015

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Aamir Shafaat Khan is a Karachi-based reporter for Dawn with over 25 years of experience. He covers trade and industry, with a particular focus on market surveys, food inflation, commodity prices, the automobile sector and broader industrial issues.

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Masood

Dec 03, 2015 08:21am

How come they are increasing their head-count in India ??

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haider

Dec 03, 2015 08:22am

I cant understand the logic behind "Declining sales" with reference to medicines. Have he people grown more healthy and not falling sick anymore? Has the population declined due to a lower birth rate? mind boggling looks like some corporate game, evading taxes, the powerful and the elite not getting their due "Shares" etc.

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David off

Dec 03, 2015 08:34am

Pfizer is remarkable pharmaceutical company....

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brr

Dec 03, 2015 08:43am

Declining sales can be due to spurious drugs being imported from China and other places that neither work nor are good, but get sold in the market cheaply.

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abdullah

Dec 03, 2015 10:23am

@haider .population has been a little bit in control.though it needs to go down as much as it can.its because people are more aware and there are lots of other pharmaceutical companies which are sellng meds in pak.pfizer being expensive is not having much sale.

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Hamza

Dec 03, 2015 10:49am

@Haider: the logic behind declining sales of companies like Pfizer is simple. (1) the government has complete control over the commercials of pharma prodcuts (pricing), and cares little about the quality controls of the same. Therefore companies that aspire to produce qualitatively correct items are at a disadvantage. (2) the lack of purchasing power of the population is pushing people to buy lower cost alternatives. The health care situation of pakistan is critical, not just the drugs manufacturers, but the doctors, hospitals and pharmacies are becoming qualitatively poorer and the real loss will be to the population at large.

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Riaz

Dec 03, 2015 11:13am

@haider Cheaper fake drugs could be one reason, ever increasing cost of living could be another reason.

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Conservative

Dec 03, 2015 11:14am

@haider it's due to competition from local companies most of whom produce substandard drugs with connivance of government officials

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Khalid

Dec 03, 2015 01:55pm

Pfizer should not leave Pakistan, instead it should introduce new research molecules. Which can't be copied by national companies. goverment must make new laws for ethical marketing, copy right and fair competition in drug industry

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mahmood

Dec 03, 2015 02:48pm

The local firms like Searle, Hinoon, Himont and Feroz are multiplying their sales and increasing product range. Pfizer need to be innovative and compete effectively.

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Faraz

Dec 03, 2015 03:39pm

@haider Unlike local pharma companies, MNCs can't get involved in malpractices for profits, so it is hard to compete. One doesn't have to look back very far in the history; Just do analysis on the pharma industry incidents in Pakistan in the last decade and you will get the answer. Laws are there, but nobody wants to take the initiative to implement them... A dilemma every third world country faces.

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Kamran Rashid

Dec 03, 2015 04:58pm

There are very strick checks in any mal practices which even local companies would have never followed through under anti Bribery laws -ABAC and FCPA. What I forsee there are follwoing issues: Drugs should be disctributed to Health Care Organisations directly and without a valid presciption o one should be allowed to take medicne OTC. A standard of local drugs should be cross checked with the clinical trail standards. A review of PK drug agency should be strictly monitored in line with Int. norms particlurly R& D process should be evaluated. A pricing framework must be scrutinised by competition commission to ensure the cheap prices is compromised with quality. I know out there local offices of MNC will be working with them. We need to stop hatred against MNS thinking they are making money infact marekt in Pk stands no where for them against other markets.

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Hopeful

Dec 04, 2015 12:03am

@Masood A larger population and larger gains

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tada

Dec 04, 2015 11:49am

@haider this happens when the government doesnt allow free and fair competition. There are thousands (without exaggeration) of spurious pharmaceutical production units being run without any documentation, taxation or regulation by the DRAP. High volume drugs by the likes of Pfizer are the first to be counterfeited by them therefore causing losses of millions directly to a reputable manufacturer. Plus the price ceiling by the government doesnt help boost multinationals confidence in a market.

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