KARACHI, Oct 20: Drug Regulatory Authority CEO Arshad Farooq Faheem has said that the pricing policy will be finalised in consultation with all stakeholders.

In a meeting with Pharma Bureau (PB) members on Saturday, he said that no decision on the contours of this policy has as yet been formulated.

PB representatives gave a briefing on the unprecedented increase in manufacturing costs including soaring prices of utilities, transport, packaging materials, wages as well as currency devaluation.

Faheem said the government is aware of these issues and is looking at developing a new pricing policy. According to a press release, the CEO said that the DRA would prioritise policy making and in this regard will include prominent doctors on the Policy Board.

On thousands of pending applications for registration of drugs, the CEO said that there would be regular meetings of the Drug Registration Board and all efforts will be made to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.

To ensure the availability of latest medicines and therapies in the local market, DRA would make all efforts to register these so that they are available to Pakistani customers through proper channel, he added.