'Local pharmaceuticals to soar 35% by 2019'

by Rohana Jayalal

The Sri Lankan pharmaceutical industry hold a 15% share of the local market. The Sri Lanka Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (SLPMA) hopes that the supportive measures taken by the government will strengthen the local pharmaceutical industry and help manufacturers to expand its footprint in overseas markets such as the Maldives and Bangladesh.

The market share of locally produced pharmaceuticals is expected to increase to 30-35% by 2019 with the support of the Government and Health Ministry, Director Operations, Gamma Pharmaceutical (Pvt) Ltd, Sugi Sivayogarajan told Sunday Observer Business.

The opportunities for the local industry were affected by competition from imports and the healthcare policy in Sri Lanka. Due to this the industry experienced unprecedented challenges over the past several years. The sluggish commercial environment over the past five decades resulted in 12 pharmaceutical manufacturing entities providing around 15% of the pharmaceutical needs of the market.

She outlined the significance of implementing the 'Guaranteed Buy Back' agreement, a public-private partnership, which enables local manufacturers to supply quality drugs to government hospitals.

Under this agreement, SLPMA provided 17 quality pharmaceutical products for use in government hospitals last year and this year. The SLPMA hopes to increase this to 56 products.

While this partnership provides medicines at affordable prices for the public, it also gives the local pharmaceutical manufacturers, depth and recognition. All local products are on a par with international products, Sivayogarajan said. The local pharmaceutical industry is essential for the public and private sectors in the country.

IMS Health Data, the world's leading information, services and technology company which monitors healthcare performance, had said that Sri Lankan pharmaceutical prices are lower than in countries which produce and export standard drugs.

Past president, SLPMA, Shalutha Athauda said that checks show that there are quality failures in foreign products while local products are 100% quality assured.

The main drawback which stands in the way of responding to government tenders is monopolistic competition. They are at an advantage and freely quote lower prices when bidding.

This is a complex situation for local manufacturers having to deal with the monopoly.

A change in the system will definitely help us achieve a bigger market share in the future. Enhancing the quantity of products is not an issue, Athauda said.