To CTG,
Bangladesh Govt might need to remove the fixed prices or re-fix the price for the few of the medicines as the cost of imported raw materials has been risen. If we keep the old fixed price in place, pharmaceuticals manufacturers might stop the production which will create a shortage of medicines in the markets. 97% of local medicines are manufactured by the Bangladesh Pharmaceutical companies and CTG needs to think twice to avert the unwanted situation in Bangladesh.
I hope that CTG and Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Companies will take the right and helpful decision regarding this issue.
Best wishes,
M. M. Chowdhury (Mithu), USA
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High Raw Material Prices
Pharma companies face difficulties to produce common medicines
Demand re-fixation of controlled drug prices
Soaring prices of medicine raw materials in the international market now take toll on the local drugs production, according to industry insiders.
A leading medicine manufacturer has already suspended production of Vitamin C, while other pharmaceutical companies are faced with difficulties in making some very commonly used drugs.
Vitamin C, a very commonly used medicine, is now hardly found in the market as the surge in prices of the ingredients have forced the local major manufacturer of the item to halt its production.
Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the market leader in producing Vitamin C under the brand name of Cvit, has stopped importing of raw materials for the last one and a half months.
Presently, the price of per kilogram raw material for Vitamin C in the international markets is around $ 16, which was $9 three to four months ago.
"If we manufacture Vitamin C with the existing raw material prices, we have to count at least Tk 35 to Tk 40 as loss per packet, which contains 200 pieces of tablets," said Muhammadul Haque, marketing director of Square Pharmaceuticals, talking to The Daily Star.
The manufacturers cannot increase the price of Vitamin C, as it belongs to the list of controlled drugs, prices of which are fixed by the government.
Meanwhile, the top drug manufacturers are also facing serious difficulties in producing Paracetamol BP, Folic Acid, Amoxicilin and Entacid, as the raw materials for these items have increased two to threefold in the international market.
A recent survey of some retail shops in the city reveals selling of such drugs at exorbitant prices.
When asked, the retailers have shifted the blame on short supply from the wholesalers.
However, the manufacturers said the supply position is good.
Bangladesh Oushad Shilpa Samity President Shafiuzzaman said, "Selling of any essential medicine at a price higher than the rate fixed by the government is a punishable offense and punitive measures must be taken against the persons responsible for manipulation in medicine prices."
He said production of the medicines have not yet halted on a drastic rise in prices of raw materials of those items in the international market.
He, however, admitted to the suspension of production of Vitamin C.
The chief of the apex trade body for the medicine manufacturers demanded of the government to immediately re-fix the prices of at least seven or eight items including Vitamin C, Paracetamol BP, Folic Acid, Amoxicilin and Entacid.
Industry sources opined that drug pricing review should be a yearly routine work and it should be done on the basis of inflation and change in exchange rate. They also pointed to the fact that the price of the controlled category drugs has not been reviewed since 1994.
Prices of pharmaceuticals are hardly controlled anywhere in the world except Bangladesh and India, they claimed.
Because of inflation, devaluation of taka and overall cost escalation, the prices of almost all medicines have increased manifold in the country.
Any irrational control of prices would not only cause the manufacturers a massive loss but also to the government, and more importantly, to the poor patients, the sources said.
A leading medicine manufacturer has already suspended production of Vitamin C, while other pharmaceutical companies are faced with difficulties in making some very commonly used drugs.
Vitamin C, a very commonly used medicine, is now hardly found in the market as the surge in prices of the ingredients have forced the local major manufacturer of the item to halt its production.
Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the market leader in producing Vitamin C under the brand name of Cvit, has stopped importing of raw materials for the last one and a half months.
Presently, the price of per kilogram raw material for Vitamin C in the international markets is around $ 16, which was $9 three to four months ago.
"If we manufacture Vitamin C with the existing raw material prices, we have to count at least Tk 35 to Tk 40 as loss per packet, which contains 200 pieces of tablets," said Muhammadul Haque, marketing director of Square Pharmaceuticals, talking to The Daily Star.
The manufacturers cannot increase the price of Vitamin C, as it belongs to the list of controlled drugs, prices of which are fixed by the government.
Meanwhile, the top drug manufacturers are also facing serious difficulties in producing Paracetamol BP, Folic Acid, Amoxicilin and Entacid, as the raw materials for these items have increased two to threefold in the international market.
A recent survey of some retail shops in the city reveals selling of such drugs at exorbitant prices.
When asked, the retailers have shifted the blame on short supply from the wholesalers.
However, the manufacturers said the supply position is good.
Bangladesh Oushad Shilpa Samity President Shafiuzzaman said, "Selling of any essential medicine at a price higher than the rate fixed by the government is a punishable offense and punitive measures must be taken against the persons responsible for manipulation in medicine prices."
He said production of the medicines have not yet halted on a drastic rise in prices of raw materials of those items in the international market.
He, however, admitted to the suspension of production of Vitamin C.
The chief of the apex trade body for the medicine manufacturers demanded of the government to immediately re-fix the prices of at least seven or eight items including Vitamin C, Paracetamol BP, Folic Acid, Amoxicilin and Entacid.
Industry sources opined that drug pricing review should be a yearly routine work and it should be done on the basis of inflation and change in exchange rate. They also pointed to the fact that the price of the controlled category drugs has not been reviewed since 1994.
Prices of pharmaceuticals are hardly controlled anywhere in the world except Bangladesh and India, they claimed.
Because of inflation, devaluation of taka and overall cost escalation, the prices of almost all medicines have increased manifold in the country.
Any irrational control of prices would not only cause the manufacturers a massive loss but also to the government, and more importantly, to the poor patients, the sources said.
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