Pharmaceutical companies have decided to halt production citing the unavailability of raw material and delay in their cases seeking price increase.
In a letter penned to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) pharmaceutical companies said that they are going to halt production in a week due to the unavailability of raw materials.
Citing the increasing rate of the dollar, the pharmaceutical companies said they cannot sell the medicines at the DRAP’s rate as the cost of doing business and raw materials has increased.
Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association had demanded a 28.5 per cent across-the-board increase in prices.
The health ministry, however, has held out an assurance that the government would make sure there was no shortage of medicines in the country.
Earlier in January, the pharma industry warned that the medicine shortage crisis will likely worsen as pharmaceutical firms run out of raw materials.
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Chairman PPMA Syed Farooq Bukhari alerted the government that the pharmaceutical companies were running out of raw materials for the production of medicines.