SHC issues notice in shady licence deal

SHC issues notices to federal health secretary and local pharmaceutical company in the case of illegal import of drugs

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notices on Wednesday to the federal health secretary and a local pharmaceutical company in the case of the illegal import of a hepatitis C drug from a research facility in the Netherlands and its sale in Pakistan.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, was hearing a petition filed by lawyer Sohail Hameed who questioned the decision to grant a licence to a pharmaceutical company with a factory in Korangi Industrial Area for the manufacture and sale of the hepatitis vaccine based on raw material imported from a research institute which never marketed its product in its home country or the European Union. According to drug laws, raw material can be imported from a manufacturer but only with a licence.

The petitioner asked the court to revoke the licence, restrain the company from manufacturing and selling the produce in the country. Pre-admission notices will be issued to the respondents for Nov 4.

Published in The Express Tribune, Octobers 21^st, 2010.