How to Check a Medicine Maker Is Licensed on DRAP's List of Pharmaceutical Units in Pakistan

To check that the company named on a medicine pack holds a DRAP manufacturing licence, open DRAP's List of Pharmaceutical Units at public.dra.gov.pk/pu/alien/ and look for the firm's name, address and province. The list is free. But a name on the list does not prove your pack is genuine: counterfeiters print real company names, and DRAP says so in its alerts.

Take the alert DRAP issued on 22 October 2026. The Brexin Tablet batch it names carries the name of a well known Karachi company and a Karachi address. The company says it did not make that batch. So a licence check is useful, but it answers one question only: is this a licensed factory? It does not answer: did this factory make my box? We read the list on 22 October 2026. This is not medical advice.

The List of Pharmaceutical Units shows licence number, firm, address, type and province

DRAP links the list from its home page. Each entry shows a licence number, the name of the firm, its address, a licence type, the province and a remarks field. The page opens straight onto the list, headed Pharmaceutical Units.

A formulation licence is for a factory that makes finished products such as tablets and syrups from ingredients. The page does not define the term, so that is our plain reading of it.

What we saw when the list loaded

The list we received held 90 entries, numbered from 000001 to 000233, all with the licence type Formulation. By province they ran: Sindh 52, Punjab 33, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3, Balochistan 1 and Islamabad 1. We counted them ourselves from the page.

We do not know whether that is the full list. The page did not show a total, a search box or filters in the text we could read. Treat what we saw as a sample, not as proof that a firm missing from it is unlicensed. The page loads by script, and a browser may show more than we could.

Match three things: firm name, address and province

Compare the manufacturer's name, the address and the city printed on your pack with the list. A real pack should match a real licence. Small spelling differences happen. A different city or a firm you cannot find at all is a reason to ask questions.

1. Read the manufacturer's full name and address on the box.
2. Open public.dra.gov.pk/pu/alien/ in a browser.
3. Look for the firm name and the licence type.
4. Compare the address and province.
5. Then check the batch number against DRAP's recall alerts.
6. If something does not match, keep the pack and call DRAP on 0800-03727.

A licensed name on the pack is not proof the pack is real

Fake packs copy real names. DRAP's alerts say the maker "disowned" a batch when that happens. Our pages on the Brexin batch W68C alert and on the Velosef, Augmentin, No-Spa Forte and Mucaine batches show real examples.

So follow the licence check with three more. Look up the batch in DRAP's recall alerts. Confirm the product is registered, using DRAP's registered drugs check. And buy from a licensed shop, which you can verify through the pharmacy drug licence check in Punjab.

Import-only and contract firms may not appear as factories

The list we read is of pharmaceutical units, meaning factories. A product made by one firm for another, or imported, may carry a different company name. DRAP's page does not explain how contract manufacturing appears here, so we cannot say. Ask DRAP if the names differ.

If you believe a pack is fake, the steps in reporting counterfeit medicine to DRAP tell you what to send. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own. Ask your doctor.

A few habits make the check easier. Photograph the box front, back and the strip before you open it, because the batch number and expiry date are often printed on the box end flap and can tear off. Keep the pharmacy receipt. If you buy the same medicine regularly, compare each new box with the last one: a changed font, a different colour or a blurry print is worth a question to the pharmacist. DRAP's alerts say that differences in colour, blister and print were noted on some fake packs, though they are hard to see.

Common questions

Where is DRAP's list of licensed pharmaceutical factories?

At public.dra.gov.pk/pu/alien/, linked from DRAP's home page as the List of Pharmaceutical Units.

Does a firm being on the list mean my medicine is genuine?

No. It shows the firm holds a licence. Fake packs copy real names, so check the batch and registration too.

Is the list complete?

We cannot say. We saw 90 entries and no total. Check in a browser or ask DRAP.

What does Formulation mean?

The page does not define it. We read it as a licence to make finished dosage forms. Ask DRAP to be sure.

What if my pack's manufacturer is not on the list?

Keep the pack, check the batch in recall alerts, and call DRAP on 0800-03727.

Is there a fee to use the list?

We met no fee or login.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 22 October 2026. We opened DRAP's List of Pharmaceutical Units and read its fields and the 90 entries that loaded, counting them by province ourselves. We also read DRAP's Rapid Alert No I/S/10-26-44 and its home page. We could not read a total, a search box or filters, and we did not test a search. DRAP's registered drugs page refused our request, so we did not use it. Confirm everything on DRAP's own site.