PESHAWAR, May 17: Multinational pharmaceutical companies have been increasing the prices of their products despite the decline in prices of the raw materials used in drugs making pharmacists at city’s hospitals told Dawn on Friday.

“The raw material used for manufacturing a pain-killer drug, Paracetamol, was sold at Rs155 per kilogramme in 1999, Rs125 in 2,000, Rs130 in 2001 and Rs120 in the year 2002,” said a pharmacist at one of the teaching hospitals.

According to him, the prices of Paracetamol should have registered a decrease in the past four years but the MNCs have increased its prices by at least 100 per cent during the corresponding period.

Similarly, the price of the raw material used in the manufacture of a famous antibiotic drug, Doxycline, was sold at Rs70,000 per kg in 1999 in international market. After two years, its price came down to Rs55,000 per kg but at present it is being sold at Rs48,333. However, during all these years, its price has increased by 80 per cent.

The raw material for another antibiotic, Ofloxacin, which is commonly prescribed by the doctors, was imported at Rs7,000 per kg in 1999, Rs6,000 in 2,000, Rs5,000 in 2001 and its price remained Rs4,750 in the year 2002. But the prices of Ofloxacin, which was marketed in more than 50 brand names, registered almost 200 per cent increase in its prices in the last four years.

The raw material for another largely consumed drug, Amlodipine, was imported at the rate of Rs15,000 per kg in 1999, Rs12,800 in 2000, Rs10,000 in 2001 and Rs9,100 in the 2002. But its price also registered an alarming increase during these years.

These prices do not include customs duty, import duty and sales tax but even with the inclusion of these taxes the prices of raw materials are not as high as often claimed by the MNCs.

These few stances are just a tip of the iceberg. Pakistan has at present some 38,000 registered drugs and the prices of all these drugs were shot up several times despite the cut in the prices of raw materials of these drugs.

The MNCs which hold 60 per cent of the drug market in Pakistan, always argue that the prices of their products were high as compared to the locally manufactured drugs because they imported the raw materials from their mother countries for which they made payments in hard currency which caused hike in prices.