Prices for 52 life-saving drugs are likely to be fixed this month, following a scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Federal Minister for Health, and officials from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).
According to sources, the Prime Minister, Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal, Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DRAP will hold a meeting on Monday.
Officials are expected to brief the Prime Minister on the pricing of new drugs. The primary objective of the meeting is to secure the Prime Minister’s support for pricing the 52 new drugs.
The Cabinet’s Drug Pricing Committee and DRAP have already determined the maximum retail prices for the new medications. These prices have been approved by both the DRAP Policy Board and the pricing committee.
However, cases involving approximately 100 medicines for various diseases still remain pending for final approval.
Sources further added that DRAP will issue an official notification regarding the new drug prices once Cabinet approval is granted.
Medicines included in the approved list
- Keytruda (Immunotherapy medicine used to treat more than 20 types of cancer)
- Nivolumab (Immunotherapy medicine used for several types of cancer)
- Dasatinib (Treats certain forms of leukaemia)
- Meropenem (An antibiotic used for treating serious bacterial infections)
- Insulin (Controls blood sugar levels in people with diabetes)
Moreover, the Ministry of National Health Services urged the need for faster approval of medicine prices. Delays in registration and pricing had made it difficult for patients to access essential medicines, forcing patients to rely on costly imports or unregistered products.
Read more: Prices approved for 52 new medicines in Pakistan
Also read: Aurangzeb pushes transparent drug pricing to keep medicines affordable