Be part of Global Clinical Trials, PM aide urges pharma industry

By Our Staff Reporter

Karachi: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Musadik Malik has urged the pharmaceutical industry to explore the option of Pakistan becoming part of the global effort of running clinical trials for innovation in the field of medicines and healthcare research.

“In order for Pakistan to move forward and in order to go to global place, you have to do strategic innovation, base science innovation, you have to go into a new industry, which is growing very fast, which is contract research organizations,” said the PM’s aide while addressing a dinner reception for participants of 2nd Pakistan Pharma Summit.

He said that all the clinical trials had been earlier taking place in North America and Europe but because of the changes that had transpired, most of the trials are now global with regional representation from all over the world.

“You can with 200 million people from South Asia having certain kind of a genetic set-up, you have to play about somewhere as there is enormous play in setting up contract research organizations, setting up bio-analytical organizations here for being part of these global clinical trials,” said Dr. Malik.

He said that at present such research organizations and hospitals had been missing in Pakistan, which had the expertise of running the protocols and trials, which were practiced the world over by contract research organizations in the field of drugs’ manufacturing and innovation.

He lamented that Pakistani pharmaceutical industry had become stagnant because of low growth, lack of innovation in research and development (R&D) sector, doing less value creation and addition to their products.

He urged the leadership and managers of Pakistan pharmaceutical sector to create a balance in their manufacturing and products’ portfolios in order to make a differentiation in the market place.

He urged the Pakistan Pharma sector to adopt scientific, evidence, and research-based marketing strategies for their products for doing marketing on innovative lines for a long-term relationship with physicians, dispensers, retailers, and distributors related to the medicines’ market.

DrMailk said the Pakistani Pharma sector that in addition to going after innovation of new therapeutic entities, the Pakistani drugs’ manufacturers should also do research for innovation in the field of combination therapies.

He said that pharmaceutical industry the world over had been growing very fast with its volume increased from 980 billion US Dollars to 1.2 trillion US Dollars. He said that most of this growth in the global pharma sector had been coming from developing economies.

He said that Pakistani pharmaceutical industry could avail massive advantage for its growth for being part of the expanding and prospering global Pharma sector.

Chairman of organizing committee of the Pharma summit Dr Kaiser Waheed said that around 400 executives related to different functions of Pakistani Pharma industry attend the two-day summit. The conference was addressed in total by 32 speakers including two international level experts of the Pharma industry.

He said most salient feature of the summit was participation by Prof Dr Marcel Corstjens who is considered the world over as a guru of Pharma industry’s marketing.