40 pharma firms warn of halting production
Over three dozen pharmaceutical companies have expressed their inability to continue production citing unavailability of raw material and delay in their cases seeking price increase. The health ministry, however, has held out an assurance that the government would make sure there was no shortage of medicines in the country. As many as 40 companies informed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Monday that they are going to halt production in a week due to unavailability of raw material. Moreover, they claimed that their cases seeking increase in prices under the ‘hardship category’ were not being decided by courts. Under the hardship category, companies may file court cases to increase prices if production cost goes beyond the maximum sale price. Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association chairman Syed Farooq Bukhari, while talking to Dawn, said PPMA had demanded a 28.5 per cent across-the-board increase in prices.