DURING the previous PPP government, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) was formed to manage this sector. At the same time sharp increase in the US dollar exchange rate and other inputs had dramatically increased the cost for the pharma sector.

The government was determined not to increase the pharma product prices which are regulated by DRAP. Under such conditions, the multinational pharmaceutical companies’ foreign investors sold the company off to local politicians and their families.

Using the DRAP, these local-owned multinational pharma (LOMP) companies stopped the price increase and new registrations of local pharma companies. They used the DRAP meetings only to increase their own product prices, creating a monopoly.

DRAP has asked to review the prices but LOMP companies get the highest prices for their products. Some prices are 1,000 per cent higher than local company prices of same product. The LOMP company then use another company to register same product with DRAP. Then DRAP allots them a price that is 25pc or lower than the last year’s price. This company only registers this product and does not manufacture it.

Using this loophole, DRAP then starts reducing the price of all local pharma companies for the same product. With a further increase in the dollar price in 2018 this process effectively stops the local pharma manufacturer from producing this product.

I request the chief justice of Pakistan to ask local pharma companies to submit their requests if their products have been devalued in such a way at a central location.

The CJ can then investigate those products with DRAP to check why they did such an act and how LOMP companies benefited from the monopoly thus created.

K. Baseer

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2018