Dr. Saween Semage, Chief Executive Officer of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), has tendered his resignation with immediate effect, citing threats to his life.
According to CCTV footage recorded on the night of May 9, two unidentified individuals forcibly entered Dr. Semage’s residence between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. The intruders remained inside the premises for approximately 30 minutes and were reportedly seen peeking into his bedroom. At the time of the break-in, Dr. Semage’s wife and children were asleep inside the house.
A specialist in public health, Dr. Semage was appointed CEO of the NMRA in January 2024. He had previously held the same position from November 2021 to May 2022, resigning then due to disagreements with former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who was later compelled to step down amid allegations of irregularities in drug procurement.
Dr. Semage was reappointed by current Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana, who succeeded Rambukwella, with a mandate to reform and streamline the drug regulatory system in Sri Lanka. However, his reform efforts, particularly his attempts to dismantle pharmaceutical monopolies, drew strong resistance from the industry.
In recent weeks, Dr. Semage has also been subjected to targeted social media campaigns. Addressing the situation, he stated,
“There has been a lot of tension within the National Medicines Regulatory Authority and the pharmaceutical industry over the past two to three weeks due to my efforts to fix prices to save public funds and break up monopolies. I also believe the house-breaking incident was a threat to remove me.”
During his latest tenure, spanning approximately 15 months, the NMRA achieved several key milestones. These include the successful clearance of a backlog in medicine re-registrations, the initiation of a rapid digitization process, and the uncovering of forged documents following the mysterious deletion of the NMRA database in 2021.
Additionally, under Dr. Semage’s leadership, the authority doubled its workforce, recruited 30 new pharmacists, and established both a National Advisory Committee and an Appeals Committee. A pricing mechanism accompanied by clear regulatory guidelines was also introduced to ensure transparency and fairness in pharmaceutical pricing.
