Chairman of the Pharmacists Syndicate Mohey Eddin Ebaid warned on Tuesday of the collapse of the pharmaceutical industry in Egypt, calling on the Cabinet to take immediate steps to address the crisis.
Egypt imports about 90 percent of the pharmaceutical industry raw materials, Ebaid said Tuesday, adding that the government needs to urgently establish a supreme body to save the industry in Egypt.
The high exchange rate of the US dollar compared to the Egyptian pound led to increasing the price of imported materials, threatening the state-owned pharmaceutical industry companies in Egypt with collapse. Ebaid pointed out that seven public sector companies are currently on the verge of bankruptcy.
The state owns 12 pharmaceutical companies, five of which already went bankrupt, he added.
