The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has decided to review the rates of the Sputnik V vaccine after concerns were raised by the importer over the price cap set by the government.
The federal cabinet had fixed the price of two Sputnik doses at Rs8,449. However, the pharmaceutical company that had imported the 50,000 doses of the vaccine expressed concerns over the pricing, urging the government to review it.
According to the pharma company, the vaccine must be sold at Rs13,000 because of the cost incurred in its import. Now the Drug Pricing Committee of DRAP will review the pricing of the vaccine which could possibly see a substantial increase in the price cap.
Pakistan received its first privately imported batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in Karachi on Wednesday. The shipment consisted of 50,000 doses. Russia’s state-owned Sputnik-V company filed an application with DRAP in January, seeking permission for the emergency use of its vaccine in Pakistan, which the government had approved.
“The country’s technical committee has cleared and recommended the vaccine to the drug registration board,” Akhtar Abbas Khan, spokesperson for the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had said then.
The vaccine has also been approved for usage in Hungary, Algeria, Bolivia, Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among other countries. Its efficacy rate is 92 per cent.
