Foreign pharmaceutical companies operating in the Egyptian market met in Dubai last week to discuss the proposals made by the Egyptian Minister of Health Ahmed Emad El-Din to tackle the pricing issue surrounding medication. Emad El-Din had suggested increasing the cost of medication sold in Egypt by 50% of the dollar price hike. He had proposed foreign companies apply the price increase in batches, electing 15% of their medication for a one-time increase of 50% every six months. The pharmaceutical companies rejected this proposal. Sources told Daily News Egypt that the minister's proposal for foreign companies differed from his proposal for local companies. The minister wanted local companies to increase the price of 10% of their medication by 50% every six months. Sources said this would mean Egyptian pharmaceuticals would increase the prices at a slower rate than their foreign counterparts. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics, and Appliances of the Federation of Egyptian Industries has suggested increasing the prices of local cosmetics by 15% instead of 10% every six months. The sources added that local companies do not oppose presenting exceptional proposals to foreign companies. They suggested increasing the prices of 40% of medicines in foreign companies by 20% every six months, while private companies would be subject to a 30% annual increase to the cost of their medication. Eleven multinational companies met with the minister a few days ago and suggested increasing the prices of all cosmetics by 60%, but the minister refused. Some of these companies proposed a 50-60% gradual increase in prices, while others proposed increasing 80% of all medication prices by 20%, with further increases possible at the start of the new fiscal year. Magdy Morshid, a member of the Health Committee in the parliament said the committee suggested increasing the price of medicine in two phases. The committee also suggested lowering the price of medication with high profit margins, in order to set a limit for profits attained from medication to 25%.
