Quality at best price : MCC changes medicine procurement procedure

Technical and financial bids of pharmas to be submitted simultaneously.

PESHAWAR: The Medicine Coordination Cell (MCC) has tightened regulations to ensure the purchase of quality products manufactured by accredited pharmaceutical companies at the lowest possible rates.

The previous criteria will not be followed for procurement and new measures will focus on purchasing quality products.

Officials said the mechanism was introduced in 1996 and was adopted by other provinces for the procurement of medicines. However, they added it could not be changed over the last 20 years. The official said amendments were necessary as new challenges had emerged with time.

They stated a prequalification system was finished and a new strategy was devised which would include both the technical proposal and financial bid. Under the previous system, companies would give a technical proposal first and the financial would follow only if the entity was selected.

Then and now

“Let’s suppose ‘A’ learnt it qualified, It would alter the financial bid and increase prices as it was the only qualified company selling the product,” K-P Health Services Administration Director Tahir Nadeem told The Express Tribune.

He stated MCC members will first inspect the technical proposal and only look at the financial bid if the former satisfied their needs. However, in this case, companies would not have the chance to alter bids as both would be submitted at the same time in a single envelope.

Another senior official, requesting anonymity, said marks will decide the selection of the company for medicine supply.

Criterion

Pharmaceutical companies will have their own marks as those accredited by the international bodies such as the World Health Organization will be preferred. They also need ISO certification for environment, ventilation, heating and cooling system, besides ensuring all procedures are followed according to global standards.

“See, we give them business. Hence, they have to meet our demands which are simple; a quality product at a reasonable price,” Nadeem said. He added a number of Pakistani companies were producing quality products and that was the reason factories had additional marks.

According to rules formulated by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Procurement Regulatory Authority, the product must be purchased at minimum cost. Also, active pharmaceutical ingredients must not be more than a year old and could be checked against customs clearance documents.

Nadeem stated a maximum of 35 marks had been fixed for the factory and as many for the product. Meanwhile, 30 marks were for the financial proposal.

The lowest bidder would have the maximum number of marks and since the financial bid will also be submitted along with the technical one, there was no possibility of altering pricing.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2016.