Pakistan drug pricing needs transparency

The pricing model for medicines in Pakistan needs more transparency to attract additional local or overseas investment, according to Jurgen Konig, chief executive of private firm Merck Marker.

In an interview, he said "the last price adjustment in the pharmaceutical sector was four years ago and, since then, despite big changes in currency value and prices of raw material, there has been no revision upward. At my recent meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, I mentioned that no proper implementation of the previous Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) had ensued and the current situation demanded an early governmental review."

He added: "I do not agree that prices of medicines in India were much cheaper than Pakistan, and a comparative study made by Merck Marker showed that the two countries were relatively similar. India may enjoy factors such as economies of scale and local availability of raw material, which give a competitive edge to some of its medicines over Pakistan, but it was not true of all drugs or medicines."