Islamabad: Amid mounting public anger over skyrocketing drug prices, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has initiated a nationwide pharmaceutical pricing survey to independently assess the real-world impact of the controversial 2024 deregulation of non-essential medicine prices, officials said on Saturday.
The move comes directly on the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has demanded a neutral, technical review of the deregulation framework and its consequences on patient affordability.
In an official call for Expressions of Interest (EOI), DRAP invited individual consultants and research firms to conduct an impartial survey comparing current market prices of the 100 most-selling non-essential medicines—those not listed on the National Essential Medicines List (NEML)—with their pre-deregulation Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs).
The survey is expected to gather data from pharmacies, distributors, hospitals, and clinics across major urban and rural areas in five to six cities nationwide.
DRAP officials said the survey’s aim is to analyze pricing trends, identify regional disparities, and assess how deregulation has reshaped medicine affordability and market behavior.
The findings, which must be submitted within 15 working days of contract award, will be reviewed jointly by DRAP and the World Health Organization (WHO), they added. The decision to commission the survey follows growing outrage among patients and healthcare professionals over the unchecked rise in drug prices.
Introduced via S.R.O. 228(I)/2024 by the caretaker government in February 2024, the deregulation policy was initially pitched as a solution to frequent drug shortages and a way to encourage investment by multinational pharmaceutical companies. But since then, the policy has been widely criticized for triggering a wave of steep and frequent price hikes—without any meaningful oversight.
“Prices of many commonly used drugs have increased manifolds in less than a year,” a senior health official told The News. “The Prime Minister wants to know whether deregulation is benefitting companies at the expense of patients.”
The federal government, particularly Health Minister Mustafa Kamal and Minister of State for Health Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, had also demanded a detailed explanation from DRAP about the price hikes.
“If someone was paying Rs800 per month for a medicine and now pays Rs2,500, there must be transparency about why this happened,” Dr Mukhtar had told newsmen last month.
Recent data by market research firm IQVIA lends weight to the criticism. The firm reported that Pakistan’s pharmaceutical market crossed Rs1.049 trillion in sales by March 2025—a 20.62 percent increase in rupee terms.
However, unit sales increased by just 3.63 percent, meaning the growth came almost entirely from price hikes, not increased consumption. Alarmingly, nearly 69 percent of market growth was attributed to changes in pricing alone.
Multinational pharmaceutical firms witnessed a decline in unit sales but gained sharply in revenue, suggesting that higher prices, rather than greater demand, drove their earnings. Even basic medicines such as paracetamol have seen fluctuating and inconsistent pricing.
To restore credibility and ensure fair pricing, DRAP has sought technical support from WHO. The global health agency has been requested to independently examine the economic and health consequences of deregulation and suggest corrective policy options.
DRAP officials say they are working closely with WHO and are committed to transparency throughout the review process.
Under the new survey’s Terms of Reference (TORs), the selected consultant or firm will be required to develop a scientifically sound sampling methodology ensuring geographic and demographic diversity.
Data must be collected across the pharmaceutical supply chain and from licensed retail points, including pharmacies and hospitals. All findings will be validated and compiled into a report supported by evidence, graphics, and visualizations.
“The market cannot be allowed to self-regulate in matters as critical as medicine pricing,” a DRAP official said. “This survey will provide the evidence policymakers need to bring fairness and accountability back into the pricing mechanism.”
While pharmaceutical companies argue that deregulation is essential to keep up with inflation and currency volatility, policymakers now face increasing pressure to rein in profiteering and restore access to affordable medicines for millions of Pakistanis.
The outcome of this survey—and WHO’s parallel review—could shape Pakistan’s future drug pricing policy, with possible reintroduction of price ceilings or tiered regulation on the cards, experts said.
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