ISLAMABAD: Over three dozen pharmaceutical companies have expre­ssed their inability to continue production citing unavailability of raw material and delay in their cases seeking price increase.

The health ministry, however, has held out an assurance that the government would make sure there was no shortage of medicines in the country.

As many as 40 companies informed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Monday that they are going to halt production in a week due to unavailability of raw material.

Moreover, they claimed that their cases seeking inc­r­e­ase in prices under the ‘har­dship category’ were not being decided by courts.

Under the hardship category, companies may file court cases to increase prices if production cost goes beyond the maximum sale price.

Pakistan Pharmace­u­tical Manufa­c­turers Association chairman Syed Farooq Bukhari, while talking to Dawn, said PPMA had demanded a 28.5 per cent across-the-board increase in prices.

“In 2018, one US dollar was of around Rs140 but now, due to depreciation of rupee, that value has increased to around Rs270. Because of this situation 40 companies have written letters to the health ministry and Drap that they will not be able to continue production of medicines [after] one week,” he said.

Pharma Bureau executive director Ayesha Tammy Haq, while talking to Dawn, said the companies were facing severe shortage of dollars.

“It is unfortunate that the government has dollars to import vehicles but LCs (letters of credit) are not being opened. A number of containers are not being cleared. We have run out of raw material. Moreover, there is massive devaluation of rupee as it has dropped by Rs60 against the dollar in just one month,” she said.

Import of material

According to the letter sent to the health minister, the ministry’s secretary and the Drap CEO, the pharmaceutical industry is heavily dependent on import of raw materials.

“Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical industry suffered a devastating blow as prices of the Active Pharma­ceutical Ingredients i.e. raw material used in the manufacturing of drugs increased exponentially in the international market since the outbreak of Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Simultaneously, factors of production like cost of fuel, electricity, freight charges and packing material witnessed unprecedented increase during the same period,” said the letter, draft of which is available with Dawn.

To avert an imminent ‘catastrophe’, it said, the industry repeatedly urged the government and Drap to take remedial measures by allowing inflationary adjustments in the maximum retail prices of medicines, which if not addressed would result in the inevitable collapse of the industry.

However, it claimed, the government and Drap failed to take any measures to protect the public and remedy the ongoing situation, which has resulted in the collapse of the pharmaceutical industry as it is unable to ensure further production of safe, efficacious, and qualitative therapeutic goods with rational use at reasonable prices to the general public.

Therefore, the letter read, “it has become completely unsustainable to manufacture medicines and ensure their availability beyond the next seven days”.

When contacted, Ministry of National Health Services Director General Dr Baseer Khan Achakzai said the ministry would take appropriate action after receiving the companies’ letters.

“However the government will make sure that there would be no shortage of medicines in Pakistan,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2023