Production localization and the fixed rate set for the euro against the lira will be key topics for the pharma industry in Turkey this year, with the expected further devaluation of the domestic currency likely to inflict more damage on companies. Turgut Tokgöz, secretary general of the Turkish industry association, spoke to Scrip.

The Turkish government has set the fixed Euro rate to calculate drug prices at TRY3.40 for 2019.

With the Turkish medicine shortage situation as bad as ever, the national pharmacists’ association has said that 521 products are now “hard to find,” while 141 are unavailable. A government move to adjust the fixed euro rate on which drug prices are calculated is not expected to do much to solve the problem.

The planned $10bn medical device tender in Turkey, closely watched by multinational and local companies alike, has been postponed, again, until April 16. Local Turkish device companies are objecting strongly to the government’s approach to the tender, arguing that it is adding more pressure on local industry as it is already under serious financial distress.

As the date for multibillion-dollar medical device bidding process for hospitals in Turkey gets closer, the government made an important change, dropping the condition that bids must cover the whole package of requested devices. This opens the way for partial bids that smaller companies might be able to handle.

The Turkish Government postponed a $10bn medical device tender for at least the third time, to January 10. But it is the government's insistence that the giant tender will go on at all, rather than be canceled outright, that has attracted criticism from local companies, who object to some of the tender's conditions.