- Warns domestic pharmaceutical production could collapse to 5% from current 25%
- Local manufacturers supply over 250 products, meeting 30 percent of government pharmaceutical needs
- Strengthening local pharmaceutical manufacturing “no longer an option” but “of national importance to ensure health and pharmaceutical security”
The Sri Lanka Pharma Manufacturers Association (SLPMA) issued a stark warning, stating the country’s domestic pharmaceutical production could plummet to a mere 5 percent of government supply if critical buyback agreements are not extended.
This dire prediction came during an address by SLPMA President Nalin Kannangara at the Association’s Post-AGM session held in Colombo last Friday.
Kannangara pinpointed the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) buyback agreement, introduced in 2015, as the catalyst for recent progress. This agreement spurred approximately US$ 200 million in private investment, leading to new facilities and growing the SLPMA to 25 member companies supplying to the government.
The results were tangible. From supplying only 17 products to the government in 2015, local manufacturers now supply over 250 products, meeting 30 percent of government pharmaceutical needs. However, Kannangara delivered a critical message: “In the absence of the buyback agreement, the local manufacturers’ market share will drop to 5 percent.”
He warned that failing to extend the agreement would render the US$ 200 million investment and the 25 factories unviable, leading to “significant loss of revenue,” jeopardising companies as “going concerns” and wasting investments in Research & Development (R&D).
