Pakistan pharmaceutical market to grow to $1.74 billion this year

Combined sales of prescription drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines in Pakistan will increase from 136.61 billion Pak rupees ($1.67 billion) in 2009 to 153.22 billion ($1.74 billion) in 2010, according to Business Monitor International Pharmaceutical Expenditure Forecast Model. Due to the weakening rupee, this equates to growth of 12.2% in local currency terms and 4.0% in US dollar terms.

In the Asia Pacific Business Environment Ratings (BERs) for fourth-quarter 2010, Pakistan has dropped one place compared with the previous quarter. However, this was due to addition of a more attractive market Sri Lanka to BMI’s proprietary ratings system. Nevertheless, Pakistan's BER score decreased from 34.0 out of 100 in third-quarter 2010 to 32.4 in the fourth quarter, primarily due to a downgrade in the country's pharmaceutical market. The South Asian country is now the 16th most attractive pharmaceutical market in the region, behind Bangladesh and ahead of Cambodia.

In July 2010, the chairman and chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan, Salman Burney, said that financial performance had been impaired by a challenging business environment. He added that medicine price controls, ongoing conflict in the northwest of the country and the weakening rupee were major concerns. The authors believe this was an understatement and that the situation in Pakistan is very concerning for pharmaceutical companies and their investors, also highlighted the country's underwhelming real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) prospects and their bearish stance on the rupee.