Govt approves prices for 35 life-saving advanced drugs after two-year delay, sources say

KARACHI: The government has given its long-awaited final approval to notify price fixation for 35 new life-saving drugs, paving the way for the introduction of advanced essential medications for cancer, heart disease, typhoid and vaccines in Pakistan, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) announced. An official notification is expected this week. “Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal took up the matter at the highest level, presenting the case before the cabinet and briefing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the urgency of ensuring access to critical medicines, ” the PPMA statement said. “The prime minister was told that delays in price approvals are not only disrupting supply chains but also putting lives at risk, particularly in cases requiring uninterrupted treatment. ” The statement added that the decision would improve the availability of several high-priority therapies that had remained inaccessible due to prolonged delays in price fixation, forcing patients to either go without treatment or depend on costly and often unregulated smuggled medicines. Delay in introduction of life-saving drugs Meanwhile a pharmaceutical industry source privy to the development told Business Recorder: “The notification for price-tagging for the advanced essential medicines has been approved [by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who also heads the Federal Cabinet]. It is expected to be issued anytime this week, ” “The offices of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the federal health minister (Mustafa Kamal) have confirmed that the federal government has given its approval to notify prices of new medicines, ” the source said, adding the government has continued to retain the power to approve price-tagging for life-saving and essential drugs. The approval for price fixation for these advanced medications has been pending for the last two years. There are still some 40 drugs the prices of which have still not been green-lighted. “The government [Federal Cabinet] is expected to give its final approval for price fixation for the remaining 45 medicines soon, ” the source said. PPMA Senior Vice Chairman Kamran Nasir also confirmed these developments, adding that the approval for rest of the 45 advanced new medicines was now under process. Meanwhile former Chairman Tauqeer Ul Haq said patients will be the biggest beneficiary of the approved medicines, as they will be able to recieve advanced treatment for cancer, heart disease, typhoid and more. The lives of patients suffering from these illneses are at high risk due to the delay as sometimes the drugs in question were being imported “at a 10-time higher price compared to the one at which they will be available in Pakistan now, “ he explained. “The approval will also allow the pharmaceutical industry to export such medicines to other markets in the region and around the world across, ” he added. The drugs include medicines for cancer and cardiovascular issues plus vaccines such as Typhoid Vi, polio, pneumococcal, along with key therapies like coagulation factor VIII, rabies immunoglobulin and Semaglutide.

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