Pakistani court gives government a week to fix price cap of privately imported vaccines

A senior citizen (R) receives a dose of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus, at a vaccination centre in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 30, 2021. (AFP)

• AGP Limited imported 50,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine two weeks ago 
• Has not been able to sell them as government has yet to set a price cap for privately imported doses

ISLAMABAD: A provincial Pakistani court on Wednesday instructed the federal government to fix the price of a coronavirus vaccine imported by a private company within one week, local media reported. 
A Pakistani pharmaceutical firm, AGP Limited, imported 50,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine two weeks ago but has not been able to sell them as the Pakistan government has yet to set a price cap for privately imported doses. 
The Russian vaccine is the first private batch purchased and imported by a private company in Pakistan.
The government last week fixed the maximum sale price of the Sputnik vaccine at Rs8,449 ($54) for two doses, which AGP rejected, saying it had imported the shots at a much higher rate.
In February, Pakistan said it would allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and agreed to exempt such imports from price caps, but earlier this month the health chief said that decision was being reversed and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) would now recommend a price, which the cabinet would approve.
During Wednesday’s Sindh High Court proceedings, AGP accused the government of "deception" by first allowing private imports of COVID-19 vaccines and then creating hurdles for the company in selling them.
However, DRAP said there was no point in releasing the consignment, currently in cold storage, without agreeing on a price cap since "the importer cannot be allowed to fix these rates" and this "prerogative should continue to rest with the government."
The court observed that people were waiting for the vaccine, saying authorities should fix the price within a week so the AGP could finally roll out Sputnik V.
Transparency International-Pakistan, in a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan last week, said the global price set for Sputnik-V was $10 per dose and the one being recommended in Pakistan was 160 percent higher than the international price. The watchdog urged the prime minister to ‘cancel’ the private import of COVID-19 vaccines, citing concerns over price and the potential for corruption.
Akhtar Abbas, a spokesperson for DRAP, said a robust mechanism was in place to ensure the vaccine would only be sold at the government-fixed price.
“The DRAP’s pricing committee may review the Sputnik vaccine price if the company provides additional documents to support its claim of a higher landing cost of the product,” he told Arab News earlier this week, adding that only the federal cabinet was authorized to fix a maximum retail price of the vaccine, and DRAP could only recommend a formula.