Shortage of pharmaceutical products to normalise by July-end: Pharmaniaga

 

The shortage of pharmaceutical products in the market is expected to normalise by the end of July, Pharmaniaga Bhd deputy managing director Mohamed Iqbal Abdul Rahman said today.

He said the shortage took place due to multifold increases in demand and companies need time to produce and obtain raw materials.

“We have started producing more and we can see some normalisation by the end of this month and some of the products by end of August,” Mohamed Iqbal he told a press conference after signing a memorandum of collaboration (MoC) with China’s Suzhou Ronnsi Pharma Co Ltd in Petaling Jaya today.

He further clarified that the medical stocks were immediately depleted during the end of the first quarter of this year as Covid-19 cases went up to 30,000 in Malaysia.

“The replenishing requirement came in April and the spike happened in April, May and June, in which the biggest order came in,” he noted.

Besides that, Mohamed Iqbal said the Shanghai lockdown also affected bringing in some of the raw materials and medical ingredients.

Nevertheless, the group has been always looking for an alternative way to ensure minimal disruption, he said.

“We also had a series of discussions with the Ministry of Health (MoH) on solutions to manage medicine shortages in the country… the government has enough stock of paracetamol and there is a plan to move that stock into the private market via Pharmaniaga,” he said.

Pharmaniaga Group managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope (left) and deputy managing director Mohamed Iqbal Abdul Rahman

Mohamed Iqbal also urged the people not to do panic buying, especially for paracetamol, as the stocks would be normalised soon.

Previously, the media reported that there was a shortage of supplies of medicines and raw materials for pharmaceutical products due to high demand post-Covid-19 and the resumption of economic activities.

On the registration of some Cannabidiol (CBD) products, Pharmaniaga group managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope said the group would be moving carefully in accordance with the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

“At the same time, we are looking for partners on suitable technology to register for the drug. There are a few companies that approached us to talk about the development of CBD too,” Zulkarnain added.

Yesterday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the MoH aims to conduct the registration of some CBD products in 2023.

- Bernama