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Organizational Culture – Be Real – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #832

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Organizational Culture – Be Real – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #832 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #832 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: RDNE Stock Project Photo Credit: RDNE Stock Project Photo Credit: Walls.io Let us talk about culture. And, with special reference to organizational culture. Culture is an everyday word, but it is difficult to define. Usually people say, the culture is ‘the way things are done around here’. This is right, ‘but why are the things done around here like this?’ Culture is rooted in the patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors – through shared norms, beliefs, and practices. These things are visible in practice but cannot be pinpointed and measured. Out of my 4...

Drug Prices Row – Important Points – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #831

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Drug Prices Row – Important Points – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #831 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #831 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Karolina Grabowska Photo Credit: Anna Shvets Photo Credit: Polina Tankilevitch Drug Prices have been a cause for face-off between Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) and Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) for quite some time. PPMA members continued to ask for price increase on the basis of continuous rise in the cost of inputs, partly due to rupee devaluation and partly due to increased cost of utilities, labor etc. DRAP and its predecessor Ministry of Health (MoH) sometimes agreed and sometimes did not. Across the board increase...

Is Pharma Industry Ruining Careers? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #830

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Is Pharma Industry Ruining Careers? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #830 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #830 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Nicola Barts Photo Credit: Mikhail Nilov Photo Credit: Monstera Photo Credit: Vantha Thang A colleague working in a large MNC, who was few years senior to me when I started, once told me this. “I was about 18 years of age when I joined as medical representative. I had a rather large territory, and I traveled a lot with several night stays. My expense statement was bigger than most and I earned almost 1800 rupees a month. Earning 1800 at 18 was fantastic”. In the early 1970s, this amount of money was large by any standard. The gentleman kept rising through ...

Pain Points of Pharma Industry Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #829

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Pain Points of Pharma Industry Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #829 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #829 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Jonathan Borba Photo Credit: Mikhail Nilov Photo Credit: Thirdman Pharma Industry in Pakistan is going through difficult times, and it is not just due to Pak rupee devaluation or rising cost of production. There are several pain points, some gathered internally over time, and some brought on by government policies and circumstances.  Let us talk about three major pain points. I may add here that pharma industry also has a role in getting pain inflicted on it.  Pricing  Without doubt, it is the biggest pain point. And the main responsibil...

Real Barriers to Pharmaceutical Exports – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #828

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Real Barriers to Pharmaceutical Exports - Asrar Qureshi's Blog Post #828 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #828 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Jesh Photo Credit: Emre Can Acer Photo Credit: Enrique Hoyos The Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 breaks some new grounds and addresses most old ones. However, some real issues were either not surfaced during consultative process or were not included in the final report. Here are some of the real barriers to pharma export business from Pakistan. State of Entrepreneurial Mindset The biggest barrier to improvement is the state of mind that pharmaceutical industry owners carry. The 700 odd national pharmaceutical companies may be categorized in t...

Critique – GOP Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #827

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Critique – GOP Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #827 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #827 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Anna Shvets Photo Credit: Frans van Heerden Photo Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko The Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 is a great step for the much-needed development of this important sector, and a good step is never too late. The identification of problems is spot on and candid in most cases. However, I would like to make the following critical comments regarding the strategy document. These issues shall impact the intended outcomes in significant ways.  Formation of Pharmaceutical Sector Specific Council A pharmaceutical s...

Highlights of GOP Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #826

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Highlights of GOP Export Strategy Pharmaceuticals 2023-2027 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #826 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #826 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Government of Pakistan, in collaboration with International Trade Center, UKaid, Ministry of Commerce, Trade Development Authority Pakistan, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, and Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association has developed the Pharmaceutical Export Strategy, which forms an integral part of Pakistan’s Strategic Trade Policy Framework – STPF. This document was approved as the official strategy export strategy for the Pharmaceuticals Sector 2023-2027 by the Pharmaceuticals Sector Specific Council ...