ISLAMABAD: The meeting of the Drug Pricing Committee (DPC), which was to fix the price of hepatitis medication following the suo motu notice of the Supreme Court, could not be held because the quorum was not met.

After this, rumours began circulating in the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) that the meeting was not held because members of the committee refused to approve the price of 28 tablets of Sofosbuyir at Rs26,000 because a significantly lower price was submitted to the apex court.

However, Secretary Health Ayub Sheikh denied the rumours and told Dawn that the meeting was postponed because the quorum could not be met as only one of the nine members was present.

`I will inquire about why members did not participate in the meeting and will reconvene the meeting by next week,` he said.

The drug, Sofosbuvir, is used to treat hepatitis C, and was introduced in the United States in December 2013. The medication was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has a higher cure rate than Interferon injections, with minimal side effects. Overall, six months of treatment are required per patient.The price of one month of treatment, or 28 tablets, is $26,600 (Rs2.6 million) per bottle in the US but the company has provided the medication for almost Rs30,000 in Pakistan for the same number of tablets.

The technical advisory group (TAG) for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis has suggested that the drug be manufactured in Pakistan to further lower costs, since there are over 10 million hepatitis patients in the country.

Though the drug has been patented, there is a universal law of `compulsory licensing`, under which any medicine can be manufactured.

The law is used when a drug is unavailable, or when it is impossible for patients to access due to high prices.

A number of companies have shown an interest in manufacturing the drug in Pakistan, due to which Drap registered 16 companies.

However, since Drap delayed fixing the price, the companies were not able to manufacture the medication.

In November 2015, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the issue, and a three-member bench, comprising Justices Ejaz Afzal, Qazi Faiz Essa and Faisal Arab, began hearing the case. The last hearing was held on Dec 22, and the next hearing will be held in January.

Drap had announced that the meeting to fix the price would be held on Dec 31 but the meeting could not be held.

An official from the NHS ministry said as soon as the meeting was postponed, rumours began circulating in the ministry that the meeting was postponed because of fear of the Supreme Court.

`There were rumours that the ministry wanted to fix Rs26,000 price of a one-month course, but members were not ready as the minimum price submitted to the court by the company Everest Pharmaceuticals was just Rs3,248 for one month`s treatment. So members were requested to declare themselves `absent` to find a way out by the next meeting, the official said.

However, another ministry official said according to Section IV, Subsection IV of the Drug Pricing Policy, a price 30pc lower than generic can be fixed.

The secretary health said all the provinces, the Consumer Rights Association and the Drap pricing director were part of the DPC. In response to a question, Mr Sheikh said both observers the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and the Pharma Bureau were asked to participate in the meeting but their members could not.