More than 80% of ’disappeared medicines’ are back in production and in retail markets in the past 22 months in Pakistan, overcoming a drug shortage crisis that had plagued the country, Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) told Business Recorder.
Patient access to medicines has increased to a new high in recent times, the association said.
Around 200 medicines had gone out of production some two years ago after their cost of production surpassed their retail prices in the country, causing huge shortages and an uproar by patients and medical professionals alike.
The drugs included life-saving ones that were used to treat diseases including TB (tuberculosis), cancer, diabetes, along with those that help with cardiovascular issues and those prescribed by psychiatrists.
The situation has, however, reversed to normal production and supply chain management after the government deregulated pricing of non-essential medicines, allowing pharma firms to set their retail price themselves in February 2024.
“Out of some 200 disappeared medicines, around 160 are once again available at affordable prices in the domestic markets,” PPMA former chairman Tauqeer Ul Haq told Business Recorder.
“The remaining 40 will also be made available in the market over the next three to four months. Their manufacturing remains dependent upon availability of imported raw material in the country,” Haq added.
He also said the government – which retains the power to regularize the price of life-saving drugs – decided to increase the price of around 100 essential medicines to above their cost of production in the past 22 months. This has also helped.
Another PPMA former chairman said “there was a huge hue and cry about shortages but after deregulation I have not heard of any shortages.”
The two former chairmen recalled that cost of production was through the roof after the cost of importing raw material soaredm in the wake of massive devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar in the past years.
Pakistan used to import a significant amount of raw material from India. That practice came to an end after political tension heightened between the two countries, especially in the border areas. This situation resulted in a further hike in the cost of importing raw material from other parts of the world, they added.
They dispelled the impression that deregulation had caused the price of medicines to soar, arguing that structural reforms strengthened competition among manufacturers and made medicines available at affordable prices.
They also believe the availability of genuine medicines wiped out fake and black markets, increasing access of original drugs nationwide.
Tauqeer Ul Haq further said there were around 700 pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan including around 10 multinational companies (MNCs). A significant number of them have invested heavily in resumption and expansion of their production lines over the past two years.
They said the reforms have not only helped the pharmaceutical industry to resume production in Pakistan, but enabled the industry to grow exports, hitting a two-decade high of 34% in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, securing fifth position among the fastest-growing export categories in the country, with sales of locally produced medicines rising to $457 million in overseas markets in the fiscal year 2025.
These export will further increase in due course as some 9 companies have already acquired global certifications like PIC/S and WHO (World Health Organization), which will allow them to sell in high end overseas markets like Europe and America.
Another 10 to 12 firms are poised to acquire certifications needed to qualify for exports over the next one year, Haq has said.
