New Delhi: India’s apex drug pricing regulator Monday allowed a 50 percent rise in the prices of 8 essential drugs used by people with asthma, glaucoma, thalassemia, tuberculosis, and mental health disorders.
The decision comes following pleas by the manufacturers of the drugs, who claim the production of the drugs has become “unviable’ due to price control measures.
The move by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority ( NPPA) under the pharmaceutical department will lead to a steep price rise in 11 formulations of the 8 medicines.
These medicines include benzylpenicillin 10 lakh IU injection, atropine injection 0.6 mg, streptomycin powder for injection 750 mg and 1000 mg, salbutamol tablet 2 mg and 4 mg, respirator solution 5 mg ml, pilocarpine 2 percent drops, cefadroxil tablet 500 mg, deferoxamine 500 mg for injection, and lithium tablets 300 mg.
For pricing regulations, the government categorises drugs as scheduled and non-scheduled in India.
Scheduled drugs, called essential drugs, are included in the National List of Essential Medicines. The government fixes their upper ceiling price every year based on the Wholesale Price Index, which typically rises by under 10 percent every year). Currently, this list includes 384 drugs, including four medical devices.
On the other hand, manufacturers can set their launch price for non-scheduled drugs, which are not considered essential. But, the annual increase in the price can not exceed 10 percent. According to industry estimates, non-scheduled drugs account for nearly 80 percent of the pharmaceutical products in the market.
According to a government statement, the NPPA has been receiving applications from drug manufacturers concerned for upward revision of prices, citing various reasons such as an increased cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients, increase in the cost of production, change in exchange rates resulting in unviable sustainable production, and marketing of drugs. “(The) Companies have also applied for discontinuation of some of the formulations on account of their unviability,” said the statement.
It added that after detailed deliberations last week, the NPPA, invoking extraordinary powers under Para 19 of the Drug Price Control Order, 2013, in the larger public interest, has approved the increase in the ceiling prices of the scheduled drugs. Most of the drugs concerned are low-cost and generally used as first-line treatment crucial to the public health programmes in the country, the government said.
Earlier, the NPPA invoked such extraordinary powers in 2019 and 2021, allowing a 50% percent increase in the prices of 21 and 9 formulations, respectively. The moves then were also for the continued availability of essential drugs for the public.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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