Chairman, Standing Committee of Senate on Commerce, Senator Haji Ghulam Ali on Monday said that despite opposition by the local pharma industry an owner of a multinational company has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) illegally. Appointment of a director of Otsuka Pharmaceutical is violation of the Section 18 of the Drug Rules that clearly states that owner or employee of any pharmaceutical cannot be appointed as chief of DRAP, he said.
Senator Haji Ghulam Ali who has served as President FPCCI said this while talking to a delegation of owners of local pharma companies led by former VP FPCCI Mirza Abdul Rehman, said a press release issued here. He said that DRAP will now become hot bed for conspiracies against local pharmaceuticals as multinationals want to grab market after destroying local industry.
The Senator said that local pharma sector with over 550 industrial units is providing jobs to millions and earning precious foreign exchange therefore it deserves full protection. Haji Ghulam Ali said that appointment of any CEO other than the official of Health Department is illegal and will play havoc with the masses and the thriving local pharma. At the occasion, Mirza Abdul Rehman who has also served as Chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on Pharmaceuticals said that we have serious reservations over appointment of Aslam Afghani as CEO DRAP. He said that government should take decision back or they would invoke courts and protest the illogical appointment.