Novartis (Zurich/NOVN) has stopped selling some of its pharmaceutical products in Turkey, Nilufer Gurpinar Guner, a communications director at Novartis’ Turkey unit, on January 23 confirmed in a statement to local daily Sozcu.

The move is related to government exchange rate stipulations on payments made for pharmaceuticals amid the severe depreciation of the Turkish lira.

Previously, on January 22, a document sent by Novartis Ilac Turkiye to pharmacists on the decision to cease sales was shared on social media.

Novartis in this document informs pharmacists that it stopped delivering the listed medicines as of January 1, 2024. The document was shared by @EczaEmekcileri.

Also on January 22, local broadcaster Haberturk reported that three pharma companies have stopped selling some of their products in Turkey, though its report did not name the companies and the products in question.

Novartis Ilac Turkiye is currently not selling some of its Alzheimer, asthma, epilepsy, migraine and eye medicines in Turkey, according to Guner.

The company faces problems regarding the fixed exchange rate applied for pharma products in Turkey, Guner also stated, adding that Novartis informed local authorities on its decision over the non-sale of the products in April last year.

There are alternatives to the specified products available on the local market, according to Guner.

Seker Pinar Ozcan, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Pharmacists, meanwhile, told Sozcu that there are some medicines among the no-longer-available Novartis products to which there are no alternatives.

Pharmacists in Turkey have for a long time been experiencing difficulties in accessing the now withdrawn medicines, while other pharmaceutical companies have been taking similar actions to Novartis in stopping or dampening sales of some medicines, according to Ozcan.

Pharma companies have also cut their payment term to 30 days, though the pharmacists receive their payments from the Social Insurance Institution of Turkey (SGK) according to a term of 90 days, Ozcan also noted.

In December, Turkey’s health ministry hiked the euro-lira conversion rate for medicine prices by 25% to 17.55. As of January 24, the EUR/TRY rate stood at around the 33-level.

The rate is normally revised annually in February. However, the government was pushed to deliver second annual hikes in December 2022 and December 2023 due to fast lira depreciation.

Turkey has observed shortages of medicines since 2018, when the freefall of the lira began.