In an important development, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has issued a licence to the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) to manufacture cardiac stents in the country.

In this connection, Dr Zafar Mirza said the government was working on ensuring wide-range reforms in DRAP.

The international standard stents will now be manufactured in Pakistan for the first time in its history, he said.

According to Dr Zafar, the move will result in lowering the stents’ price while generating a positive impact on the market and the users.

Currently, the cardiac stents’ prices are quite higher in Pakistan, as the Punjab Health Department had fixed their rate in January at Rs30,500 for drug-eluting stents and Rs13,250 for bare-metal stents.

On the other hand, the prices of drug-eluting stents range from 31,584 to 23,625 and for bare-metal stents 8,319.15 to 8,319.00 Indian rupees in India.