Pharma Veterans

Formation of PharmEx Pakistan – Too Late, Too Little? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1123 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1123 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. PPMA Delegation in Meeting with Minister of Commerce Preamble The Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan has finally rose up to the idea of supporting pharmaceutical export from Pakistan. Jam Kamal Khan, Minister of Commerce reaffirmed the government’s resolve to boost pharmaceutical export and announced the near-operational launch of PharmEx Pakistan – a new Pharma Export Promotion Council – under the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Formation of PharmEx Pakistan From the news, it shows that Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Chairman Mr. Touqeerul Haq made a presentation during a meeting in wh...

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 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 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 ...

Pharma Landscape in Nearby Countries – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #825 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #825 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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: Ihsan Aditywarman Photo Credit: Barathan Amuthan Photo Credit: Irsyad Ibrahim Photo Credit: Rezoana Amin Rayna Pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan has grown exponentially since 1990s. It is not just about volume; the industry has provided great relief to people by making generic drugs available at affordable prices. Presently, our local manufacturing caters for over 90% of local demand. Medicines are still being imported but in categories where local products are not available. Much of the growth of local pharma is undesirable fat; 100 – 200 branded ge...

Pharmaceutical Business – Trends and Challenges – Part 2 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #668 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #668 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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. Continued from Previous…… Our Pace vis-à-vis the Developed Countries The gap between our Pharma industry and that in the developed countries is increasing rapidly in recent times. We had always been slow, but the rest of the world has become faster and is gaining further speed due to huge advancements in technology. Pharmaceutical business is regulated at all steps and the main regulator is Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan – DRAP. Prior to this, it was Drug Control Organization – DCO under the Ministry of Health. The staff moved to DRAP when it...

NEGOTIATIONS – Pharma Scenarios 2 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #666 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #666 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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. We discussed in the last post that seemingly the biggest negotiations are with the suppliers and vendors. There are other critically important areas also where negotiation is required to arrive at the mutually satisfying position. Customers Pharma people deal with five types of customers: Doctors, Pharmacies, Hospitals, Distributors, and International Buyers. For long, the doctors were not in the list of people to negotiate with, but now it is so. Previously, if they accepted the product, they would give prescriptions which will convert into business for the company. N...

Pakistan Pharma Industry SWOT – Part 14 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #605 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #605 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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. Opening Note February 2022 marks my completing 47 years of working in Pharma Industry. Allah be praised. I am still working. The first half of my working career was spent in Multinational companies, and the latter half in the Local Pharma, making me well-versed with both innovators and generics markets. I also had the opportunity to work in business as well as operations.  My journey of near half century is also the journey of Pharma Industry in Pakistan. Great changes have occurred in this time and a lot could be written about it. In my blogs, which were started ...

Pakistan Pharma Industry SWOT – Part 5 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #596 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #596 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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. Opening Note February 2022  marks my completing 47 years of working in Pharma Industry. Allah be praised. I am still working. The first half of my working career was spent in Multinational companies, and the latter half in the Local Pharma, making me well-versed with both innovators and generics markets. I also had the opportunity to work in business as well as operations.  My journey of near half century is also the journey of Pharma Industry in Pakistan. Great changes have occurred in this time and a lot could be written about it. In my blogs, which were sta...

Corruption in Pharmaceuticals – International Perspective 1 – Blog Post #494 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #493. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by 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. Jilian Clare Cohen Loraine Hawkins Monique Mrazek Pharmaceutical Industry is as much prone to corruption as any other industry. Businesses are for profit and they strive to maximize volumes and profits. During this process, possibility of getting boost through corrupt practices keeps coming along. Pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated industry worldwide but is not free from malpractices. Key areas for corruption are those where key decisions are taken. These include, but may not be limited to, manufacturing, registration, selection, procurement, distribution,...