An audit report included in the Annual Report of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) for the year 2023 has revealed serious irregularities in a procurement process that led to a loss of over Rs. 104 million due to the purchase of substandard Amoxicillin pharmaceutical ingredients.
The SPC Annual Report was presented to Parliament recently. The audit report highlighted the procurement process for being conducted in haste, without verifying the quality and effectiveness of the imported pharmaceuticals.
According to the report, the SPC procured 9,000 kg of Amoxicillin under Order No. 20231556AA without adhering to the recommendations of the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) and the Quality Assurance Division of the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation. The committees had advised procuring only 25 kg initially to assess the structural stability of the ingredients before importing the full quantity. However, the procurement committee ignored this recommendation and proceeded with the full purchase.
As a result, the pharmaceutical ingredients failed quality checks, rendering them unusable. The entire stock has remained idle at SPC premises for 10 months, leading to a significant financial loss of Rs. 104,844,337, according to the audit.
