SFDA rejects pharma requests to raise drug prices

Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) rejected requests from local pharmaceutical firms to raise the retail price of some drugs to offset increasing operating costs, Al Watan newspaper reported.

The price amendment requests come on the backdrop of rising operating costs across the economy, following the introduction of five percent value-added tax, higher fees on foreign labor, and energy and utility price hikes, which took effect from January 1.

"We have a mechanism for pricing, and amending pricing of, imported pharmaceutical products, but this case is not eligible for authorization of price change," a source at SDFA told the local newspaper.