The CEO Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) has said that pricing policy will be finalised in consultation with all stakeholders. Arshad Farooq Faheem, CEO of the Drug Regulatory Authority, met with the Pharma Bureau, the organisation of the research based pharmaceutical companies in Karachi on Saturday to discuss industry issues and their resolution.
The Pharma Bureau gave a briefing on the unprecedented increase in manufacturing costs including soaring prices of utilities, transport, packaging materials, wages as well as currency devaluation. The Pharma Bureau CEO said that the government was aware of these issues and was looking at developing a new pricing policy. However, no decision on the contours of this policy has as yet been formulated, he added. He said that the policy would be finalised after consultation with all stakeholders.
The CEO said that the DRA would prioritise policymaking and in this regard would include prominent doctors on the Policy Board. On the issue of fees, the CEO said that the new DRAP is to be a self-funded autonomous body and the previous fee structure was outdated and would not be able to support the new regime. It would be expedient to increase the fees. However, he said, the views of the industry would be taken into account before the fees are revised.
In response to a major concern of the Pharma Bureau with regard to the 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 would be made to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.
To ensure the availability of the very latest medicines and therapies in the local market, the DRA would make all efforts to register these new and innovative medicines so that they are available to Pakistani customers through proper channels. On the issue of non-availability of raw materials, which resulted in the shortfall of a number of medicines, in particular cough and cold preparations, the Pharma Bureau were appreciative of and thanked the CEO for his efforts in facilitating the release of the raw material quotas from the Ministry of Narcotics Control. This, he said, would significantly address the issue of shortages.
The CEO took keen interest in measures suggested by companies to deal with the menace of counterfeit drugs. The Pharma Bureau advised the CEO that there were several high tech solutions available internationally which could easily be adopted in Pakistan. The CEO assured the Pharma Bureau that the government wants to ensure that patients get efficacious and quality medicines and would assist the industry in ensuring that counterfeit and spurious drugs do not find their way in to the market.
The Pharma Bureau shared with the CEO details of the significant investments made by its members in various manufacturing facilities lying un-operational due to the delay in granting licenses. The CEO said that the DRA was now fully operational and all facilities would be inspected immediately so that they could commence operations without further delay. The Pharma Bureau appreciated the CEO's efforts in the passing of the DRA Bill and assured him of the Bureau's support.-PR
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