"Drug Pricing System Fails to Respond to Current Economic Conditions"

Nezih Barut, Chairman of the Board of the Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Association (İEİS), emphasized that pharmaceutical pricing regulations fail to respond to current economic conditions and that the sector is experiencing serious financial difficulties as a result. "We continue production despite all challenges to prevent medicine shortages and meet all types of demand. Public health has always been our priority," Barut said.

Nezih Barut stressed that Turkey's method of determining pharmaceutical exchange rates lags behind economic realities and drew attention to the fact that some pharmaceutical manufacturers have been forced to cease operations due to inability to withstand financial conditions. Noting that these developments jeopardize not only our industry but also citizens' access to medicines, Barut emphasized that the sector's need for a permanent and predictable structure has become even more evident.

Barut pointed out that while the Euro exchange rate reached TRY 50 as of October, the pharmaceutical exchange rate, which stood at TRY 21.67, has not changed over the past year. "The pharmaceutical exchange rate must be updated without delay and the pricing system must be reformed. In Turkey, medicine is the only product whose price has not changed in the past year. This situation is adversely affecting our production planning, supply chain and investments," he said.

Reminding that the Turkish pharmaceutical industry meets 92 out of every 100 boxes of medicine used by citizens through domestic production, İEİS Board Chairman Nezih Barut made the following statement: "To ensure that citizens do not experience disruptions in access to medicines, we continue production with all our strength as we always have. This is because public health is our priority. We demonstrated this sensitivity during the COVID-19 pandemic and earthquake disasters by ensuring citizens were not left without medicines. The most vital problem we face in our sector is that the pharmaceutical pricing mechanism does not respond to current conditions. We expect this matter to be resolved as soon as possible."