In a major development, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH), one of the largest pharmaceuticals in Pakistan, declared force majeure regarding the production of Panadol Tablets, Panadol Extra Tablets, and Children’s Panadol Liquid Range.
According to the details, the company said in its filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that it was incurring heavy financial losses on the production of the Panadol range due to an increase in the price of paracetamol raw ingredients.
Moreover, in his letter to the PM’s Principal Secretary, GSK Consumer Healthcare Pakistan’s CEO said they have repeatedly drawn the attention of various government stakeholders regarding the critical issue of an extraordinary and rapid increase in paracetamol (raw material) prices in Pakistan, and their appeals to the federal government to accord approvals for the adjustments to the selling price(s) of the captioned Panadol range of products, all of which are Paracetamol based.
Read more: Why Pakistan faces a Panadol shortage
“We are incurring heavy financial losses on the production of the entire Panadol range due to an increase in the price of their raw ingredients and in the absence of due approval by the federal government on the recommendation of Drug Pricing Committee of Drug Regulatory Committee of Pakistan. Due to these challenges, manufacturing of Panadol range on negative margins is unsustainable and despite exhaustive efforts of the company to mitigate the issue through dialogue, the situation is now beyond our control, compelling us to declare force majeure,” the company CEO said in the letter.
GSK Pakistan has said it will no longer make Panadol after the Govt prevented it from raising its price – Panadol is an essential med – GSK isn’t going to make it because it won’t be profitable
In 2020, GSK Pakistan had sales of over Rs 35 billion & net profit of Rs 3.3 billion
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) October 22, 2022
The company urged the federal government to take urgent action and rationalize the prices of the Panadol range in line with the recommendations by the DPC of Drap.
Read more: Pharma company denies hoarding 48m Panadol tablets after raid
Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline told investors on Friday it recorded a net loss of Rs345.2 million in the July-September quarter as opposed to a net profit of Rs363.9m in the comparable period a year ago.