Government has made available 27 million dollars to six pharmaceutical companies in the country in an effort to boost the local pharmaceutical industry to increase its market share.

Currently, the local industry holds 30 per cent of the market share; a figure it is hoping to increase to 60 per cent with the right support and conducive environment.

President John Dramani Mahama announced this in a statement read on his behalf at a ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary conference and annual general meeting of the West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (WAPMA) held in Accra on Tuesday.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to assist the operations of the local pharmaceutical industry to improve the healthcare delivery.

The Preseident noted it was in line with this that the government spearheaded the VAT Amendment Law 2015 [ACT 890] with an accompanied Legislative Instrument [LI2218] of October 2015. The law grants exemptions to over 510 active pharmaceutical ingredients, selected inputs and pharmaceuticals.

This, President Mahama said, would ensure that prices of locally-produced medicines become affordable and globally competitive.

Meanwhile, Mr Mahama said he has instructed the Ministry of Health and its stakeholders to establish a Center for Bioequivalence and Biopharmaceutical research to support local manufacturers in bioequivalence studies.

The move, he said, is to explore biopharmaceutical research in the country to serve the increasing demand of the continent.

The ceremony, which had in appearance representatives from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO), gave participants the platform to come up with ideas to help enhance the operations of the pharmaceutical industry in Africa.