More Pharma Raw Materials To Be Made In Pakistan

Four basic pharmaceutical raw materials manufacturing plants areplanned for Karachi, Pakistan, which, when commissioned, would raise the total number of such plants in the country to eight.

The new plants are to be built by the local companies Himont, Bexinco (a joint venture with Bangladesh), Joffman and Zafa; the two last named are expected to come on stream by the end of the current year, while the first two will become operational in the first quarter of next year. Pharmaceutical manufacturing units already operating in the country include Army Welfare Trust and Glaxo Wellcome.

A major discouragement for the establishment of pharmaceutical plants in Pakistan is the small market size; total retail sales by the pharmaceutical industry in 1996 were estimated at just over $900 million, of which nearly 35% are imports. There are 13,588 registered formulations in circulation based on over 1,000 ingredients.