PPMA pinpoints key reasons for business closure by top pharma firms

Some of the top global pharmaceutical companies have left Pakistan due to a revision of their business plan, rupee depreciation and due to competition with the local pharmaceutical companies. According to senior representatives of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association (PPMA) and officials of the Federal Ministry for National Health Services and Regulations (NHSR) most of these companies have closed down their manufacturing operations in Pakistan as per their revised business plans. They said that these pharmaceutical giants are now focused on high valued select products. During the past three years five major multinational pharmaceutical companies including Bayer, ICI Pakistan, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, and Novartis stopped their operations in Pakistan. These facilities have been transferred to Pakistani companies to ensure supply of essential medicines remains uninterrupted.