Pharma exports after the Afghan border closure: the search for new markets
With crossings to Pakistan’s largest medicine market shut since October 2025, exports fell 27.67% in July–February FY26. What exporters are facing.
In this article
Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exporters have had a difficult year, and the main reason is a single market.
The numbers
Pharmaceutical exports were $230.895 million in July–February 2025-26, down 27.67% from $319.231 million a year earlier, APP reported in April 2026, citing the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Volumes fell by a similar 27.82%. February 2026 showed some recovery, at $29.526 million, up 6.24% on February 2025.
Why: the Afghan market
The Torkham and Chaman crossings have been closed since October 2025, Business Recorder reported in January 2026. According to the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, medicine exports to Afghanistan are worth $150–200 million a year, about 35% of the total. Former PPMA chairman Dr Kaiser Waheed said trucks were stranded at the border and some firms had lost offices and sales teams in Afghanistan, while small quantities were being sent by air.
In FY25, exports of locally produced medicines reached $457 million and total therapeutic goods exports $909 million, the report said, adding that $1 billion could have been within reach in FY26.
Why one market mattered so much
Afghanistan was Pakistan’s easiest export market for medicines: a neighbour reached by road in a day or two, with familiar brands, similar prescribing habits and relatively simple trade. Pakistani companies built distribution networks and sales teams there over many years. That made it profitable, but it also concentrated risk: when the crossings closed, about a third of the industry’s exports were stuck at once, and there was no quick substitute.
What entering a new market involves
Exporting medicines is not like exporting most goods. Each importing country requires its own product registration, and the process typically includes:
- A registration dossier, increasingly in the internationally standard Common Technical Document format, with data on quality, manufacturing and stability.
- Evidence of GMP, often a certificate from the home regulator and sometimes an inspection by the importing country’s regulator.
- Bioequivalence data for many generic products, showing the medicine behaves in the body like the reference product.
- A local partner or registration holder to manage the process and distribution.
That is why the PPMA puts the time to enter a new market at four to five years — and why exporters plan their pipelines well ahead.
Where growth could come from
| Route | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Other regional markets | Registrations, distributors and competitive pricing |
| Regulated markets | International GMP approvals and strong dossiers |
| International procurement | WHO prequalification and reliable supply |
| Higher-value products | Complex generics, injectables and biosimilars |
Each route depends on quality systems that meet international expectations — which is why DRAP’s PIC/S plan and its push for WHO Maturity Level 3 matter to exporters as much as to the domestic market.
Lessons from the closure
The border closure has given the industry an expensive lesson in concentration risk. Exporters who had already registered products in several countries could shift some sales; those who relied on one market could not. For companies planning their export strategy, a spread of markets at different stages — some established, some in registration, some being explored — offers more protection than depending heavily on one buyer, however convenient it has been.
What to watch
- Time to enter new markets: registering medicines in a new export market takes four to five years, the PPMA said.
- Competition: suppliers from Iran, India and Bangladesh are reported to be signing contracts to supply Afghanistan.
- Standards: regulated markets need internationally recognised GMP — see DRAP’s PIC/S plan.
Export growth was a central theme of the 2025 International Pharma Convention and returns at Pharma Asia 2026.
