Efforts underway to ink one-year buyback agreements with 49 local medicine manufacturers

In a bid to strengthen the local pharmaceutical industry, the government is gearing up to enter into one-year buyback agreements with 49 shortlisted local medicine manufacturers.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal presented by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya to finalise the agreements with the local suppliers who were found capable of providing 454 essential drugs to the national supply chain. 

This is in addition to those manufacturers already engaged in similar agreements with the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC).

According to the Department of Government Information, the initiative is part of the government’s plan to increase the coverage of locally produced medicines from 20 percent to 40 percent to reduce reliance on imported medicines.

The buyback agreement initiative was initially approved in 2013 as a strategy to support local medicine manufacturing in the country. 

Under the scheme, the government committed to purchasing medicines from domestic producers for up to 10 years. The initiative received further backing in 2018 with successive administrations extending the agreements between the SPC, the Ministry of Health and local pharmaceutical companies for an additional 
five years.

A specialised pricing committee was also appointed to regulate and ensure fair pricing for the medicines supplied by these local companies under the agreements.