Several essential medicines — including advanced cancer immunotherapy drugs, vaccines and other life-saving treatments — remain unavailable in the country as the federal government has yet to finalise and notify their prices, despite recommendations from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical industry representatives.
The officials said the Drap Drug Pricing Committee (DPC) had already finalised prices for a number of important medicines, which were subsequently endorsed by the Drap Policy Board and later on reviewed by a special committee constituted by the prime minister and headed by Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
