Pharmaceutical industry witnessed worst period in over a decade: SBP report
Pharmaceutical firms and regulatory authority, DRAP, were at odds about the price-setting mechanism.
KARACHI (Web Desk) - The pharmaceutical industry witnessed its worst period in well over a decade as its production contracted by 8.4 percent during Jul-Mar FY19 against 4.2 percent growth in same period last year.
In its Third Quarterly Report 2018-19, the State Bank of Pakistan mentioned: “One of the major explanations was the price adjustment mechanism in the country. During the course of the year, the pharmaceutical firms and regulatory authority, DRAP, were at odds about the price-setting mechanism. This situation led to an increased dependence on imported pharmaceutical products.
"Resultantly, imports of medicinal products rose by 9.7 and 7.3 percent in quantum and value terms respectively.”
“Another possible reason of this decline in pharmaceutical production was the shifting of some production units from Sindh to Punjab, which created temporary disruption.”
