Pharma firms push for price hikes as shortages and black market resurface

Hundreds of local pharma companies are pushing for a 10% increase in med prices to offset rising costs, Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s pharma division head Ali Auf told EnterpriseAM. Around 500 companies have formally submitted price adjustment requests to the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) due to major increases in production costs, wages, and ins.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

The EDA has so far rejected the requests, citing the appreciation of the EGP against the USD, Auf said. But he argued that meds aren't priced based solely on the cost of imported active ingredients, and that local production costs continue to surge.

Auf said the companies have proposed two options. They are calling for either a cut in EDA service fees by 75%, including slashing the drug registration fee — which recently rose from EGP 1 mn to EGP 5 mn — as well as licensing fees and fines that were imposed when companies were unable to meet production targets due to FX shortages. The second proposal is to approve the proposed 10% price hike to relieve mounting pressure on the sector.

Shortages persist — especially for critical meds. While the number of missing meds has declined from 3k in 2024 to just 200 in 2025, according to Auf, many of the remaining shortages relate to chronic diseases, and local alternatives are either ineffective or produced in insufficient volumes to meet demand. Auf warned of shortages in life-saving imported meds used to treat conditions like heart failure and cancer — a result of rigid pricing policies that fail to reflect real costs, he said.

The current environment is fueling a revival of the pharma black market, Auf told us. In one case, a British drug that retails for EGP 100 per pack was pulled from the market after EDA rejected a company request to raise the price to EGP 150. The UK manufacturer suspended exports to Egypt, and the drug is now reportedly being sold for EGP 1k on the black market.

Auf called on Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly to step in, especially as the sector faces new regulatory burdens following the EDA’s recent Level 3 certification from the World Health Organization, which requires factories to upgrade production standards. He said the current price controls are incompatible with the costs of meeting these new requirements.

The government is stepping in with financial support, with the Finance Ministry disbursingEGP 11 bn last week to pharma companies as part of their total EGP 50 bn in outstanding dues, Auf confirmed. The move is expected to ease short-term liquidity pressures on the sector.

Sources previously told EnterpriseAM that the government is now looking to introduce more flexibility into its price control system. The new mechanism is expected to include updated benchmarks and pricing formulas that ensure fairness across the value chain.

The government has also approved raising the budget for the Unified Procurement Authority (UPA) to EGP 75.5 bn, up 92.4% y-o-y, medical supplies division head Mohamed Abdo told EnterpriseAM. Some EGP 14 bn have already been disbursed as a first tranche of dues owed to medical supplies firms.