By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan and Chinese pharmaceutical companies have signed 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering investment, technology transfer, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing, vaccine collaboration and broader pharmaceutical cooperation, as Islamabad intensifies efforts to reduce dependence on imported raw materials and strengthen healthcare security, reports Wealth Pakistan.

The agreements were signed during a high-level event organised by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in collaboration with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), the One Station China Desk (OSCD) Platform, and the office of Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce Dr Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal described the development as a “historic milestone” for Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry and healthcare sector, particularly in the area of local API manufacturing.

He said Pakistan had waited many years for such progress, adding that healthcare self-reliance could only be achieved through technology transfer and strategic industrial partnerships.

According to the minister, local API production would help improve medicine affordability, strengthen long-term pharmaceutical supply security and reduce vulnerability during emergencies and global supply chain disruptions.

He noted that Pakistan currently manufactures 85-90 percent of its finished pharmaceutical products locally and exports medicines to 51 countries. However, the country still imports nearly 85-90 percent of the raw materials used in medicine production.

Mr Kamal said Pakistan’s annual import bill for pharmaceutical raw materials was close to $1 billion.

He said the signing of the 10 MoUs reflected expanding Pakistan-China cooperation in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, while two flagship agreements carried strategic importance in pharmaceutical raw material production, technology transfer and poultry vaccine manufacturing.

The minister noted that Pakistan imports poultry vaccines worth around $4.5 million annually, making dependence on imported vaccines a strategic concern.

He said Pakistan currently provides free vaccines for 13 diseases to children under national immunisation programmes, but international immunisation support arrangements are expected to change after 2030.

“After 2030, Pakistan may require nearly $1.2 billion annually from its own resources to procure vaccines,” he said.

He added that the government was therefore working to establish indigenous vaccine manufacturing capacity before 2030 to reduce dependence on external supply chains.

The minister further said Pakistan had, for the first time in its history, developed and secured cabinet approval for a comprehensive National Vaccine Policy, while the National Institute of Health was also being further activated to support vaccine development and manufacturing initiatives.

He said Pakistan was also making efforts to achieve the World Health Organisation’s Level 3 certification within the coming months, which could expand pharmaceutical export access from the current 51 countries to more than 150 international markets.

On the occasion, DRAP Chief Executive Officer Dr Obaidullah said discussions on API and medical device policies had already been completed and the focus had now shifted toward implementation.

He said API manufacturing was directly linked to “health security” because global geopolitical disruptions in recent years had exposed vulnerabilities in international pharmaceutical supply chains.

He added that DRAP was transforming from a conventional regulator into a “facilitated regulator” aimed at supporting industrial growth and encouraging local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti said dependence on imported medicines and pharmaceutical raw materials was placing sustained pressure on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and increasing the national import bill.

Speaking to Wealth Pakistan on the sidelines of the event, Executive Director of the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association Nawaz Ahmed said local production of APIs and vaccines would help ensure uninterrupted availability of essential medicines while reducing Pakistan’s reliance on imports.

He noted that pharmaceutical manufacturers frequently faced production disruptions when global supplies of raw materials or vaccines were interrupted, resulting in shortages and price pressures in the domestic market.

Under one of the major agreements, Unichem Pharmaceuticals Pakistan and China’s Xinxu Group entered into an investment partnership valued at around Rs10 billion for technology transfer and local pharmaceutical manufacturing, including local production of Omeprazole API, around 95 percent of which has historically been imported into Pakistan.

Participants at the event described the agreements as the beginning of a new phase in Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industrial development, foreign investment attraction and healthcare self-reliance through strategic collaboration with Chinese companies.

Credit: INP-WealthPk