The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) would either go with a 'visionary pricing mechanism', aligned with global practices, or approve the draft policy prepared by Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA), sources told Business Recorder. Pointing out that the ECC might review on Monday the draft of pricing policy prepared by DRA for final decision, sources hoped that the ECC will keep it in mind that a transparent and fair drug pricing policy, aligned with global practices, will ensure quality medicines.
Claiming that the draft pricing policy has not been prepared with the consent of stakeholders, sources in the pharmaceutical industry said: "The proposed cut of 45 per cent in drug prices will not only render our production unviable, but will also result in influx of smuggled and spurious drugs."
They apprehended that there would be severe shortages of essential and life-saving medicines (insulin, anti-cancer drugs, TB, anti-epileptic, vaccines, polio, antibiotics, cardiovascular, etc) if the draft pricing policy was approved by the ECC with all its anomalies. "It will deprive patients of the benefits the latest researches offer because no further introduction of new therapies in Pakistan will be possible for companies, so quality products will be replaced by sub-standard/fake medicines," they opined.
However, if the government introduces a transparent market-oriented pricing policy, it would create stability and predictability necessary to stimulate investment and growth in this important sector. Also, this kind of environment would inevitably lead to the improvement in quality of medicines, access to new therapies at affordable prices, and alleviation of essential drugs' shortage," they added.
The industry further opined that uniform pricing proposed in the draft policy is anti-competition and violates the CCP laws. It is for this reason that the industry has requested the government to avert a potential drug crisis by formulating a committee to review this draft drug pricing policy, they recalled.
The industry, the source added, required a policy that incorporates predictability, transparency, quality, and product availability to encourage investments into quality manufacturing. "Lack of a functioning regulatory environment that leads to a failure to articulate a policy whereby prices are adjusted in a predictable and transparent manner has been the main impediment to the growth of the pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan," they added.