Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Association (PPMA) has expressed deep concern over the postponement of the meeting of the Drugs Pricing Committee (DPC) and urged the Drugs Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to resolve this issue on priority basis.
PPMA Chairman Javed Akhai in a statement issued here on Wednesday said the repeated postponement of the meeting of DPC, working under DRAP, was adding to the distress of the pharmaceutical industry which had already been badly hit by the inconsistent working mechanisms of DRAP.
He said these holdups were also resulting in delayed registrations of new products, while the last meeting of DPC was held on October 9, 2012 where limited approvals were granted. Thereafter meetings were postponed continuously for different reasons, he added. He further said that no meeting had been conducted over the last three months due to which the registration process of new products was significantly affected.
Furthermore, Akhai said the pharmaceutical industry was already under pressure due to delay in passing of DRAP Act 2012, while all work in this connection had been in limbo for almost two years after the devolution of the health ministry to the provinces. Slow process of registration was further adding to the miseries of the industry which was already working under strict pricing regime where no across the board price increase had been granted since 2001, he added.