Pharma sales up 9pc to Rs453.5bln in FY20

KARACHI: Overall pharmaceutical sales for the outgoing fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 clocked in at Rs453.5 billion, posting a growth of 9 percent, a report by IQVIA, the global information and technology solution provider, revealed.

The report said, in overall sales during the aforementioned period, the share of national drug-makers was 68 percent, up 10 percent, while that of foreign ones stood at 32 percent, a growth of 8 percent.

On the other hand, the overall sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 grew 4 percent to clock in at Rs111.12 billion.

An industry official said sales were affected due to the COVID-19 lockdown as outpatient departments (OPDs) at hospitals remained closed for most of the quarter, while eroding household incomes also impacted the sales.

Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20 disclosed that the pace of contraction diminished in the pharmaceutical sector as it registered 5.38 percent decline during July to March in FY2020 as compared to a 8.66 percent fall in the corresponding period previous year.

Also, the pharmaceutical sector recorded the highest sales in March, while it fetched $1.3 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in April 2020.

There are more than 750 registered pharmaceutical companies, of which 25 are multinationals, which account for 44.3 percent of the market in value and 44.7 percent of the market in volume.

The top 100 companies including the local companies constitute 97 percent market share, while the remaining 650 plus just 3 percent.

Analysts believe at the present growth rate the market size for pharmaceuticals will double in the next 10 years in Pakistan.

An industry official said pharmaceuticals could play a vital role in their capacity to help strengthen the national economy, and suggested the national players to ramp up production capacity and collaborate with international ones to bring critical medicines in the country and eventually aim for joint venture investment of production facilities.

An analyst said the regulatory environment for the pharmaceutical industry needed to be aligned with global industry trends if the industry was to develop and survive in an exceedingly competitive environment. “The government and industry should work together in a supportive and collaborative environment towards improving access to healthcare in the country,” the analyst said.

He said another issue was Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations, which were a serious threat to research-based pharmaceutical companies, leading to the widespread production and distribution of counterfeit and sub-standard drugs.

“The government needs to develop a comprehensive healthcare plan by taking input from all stakeholders including the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, payers and patients, with particular focus on increasing spending on healthcare,” he added.