KARACHI: The pharmaceutical industry recorded the highest-ever quarterly sales of Rs237 billion, up 25 per cent year-on-year in Q4FY24, while sales rose by 22pc to Rs916bn in the entire FY24.

As per healthcare data company IQVIA, pharmaceutical sales rose by a quarter, with 20pc attributed to a price increase and 5pc to a rise in volume.

The significant jump in price is due to the government-approved deregulation of drug prices for non-essential categories and a one-time increase in prices of 146 drugs in February.

The caretaker government approved the deregulation of non-essential drugs on Feb 6, but on Feb 22 the Lahore High Court stayed this decision to seek clarification. Later, on April 2, the LHC ruled in favour of the pharmaceutical industry, thus vacating the stay order against deregulating maximum retail prices (MRPs) of drugs.

According to Sunny Kumar of Topline Securities, pharmaceutical sales surged to Rs916bn in FY24, which is also the highest in the last five years (FY20-FY24), with a compound annual growth rate of 17pc.

As per data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports of pharmaceutical products also grew by 44pc in quantity (85,492 tonnes) and four per cent in value to $341mn during FY24 from 59,213 tonnes, valuing $328m in FY23.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2024