Govt informs NPPA fixes/revises the prices of 74 bulk drugs

New Delhi, Dec 7 (UNI) The Government today informed the Rajya Sabha that the 74 bulk drugs specified in the First Schedule of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995 (DPCO,95) and the formulations based thereon are under price control and their prices are fixed/revised by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in accordance with the provisions of the DPCO, 95.

Minister of State for Chemicals&Fertilisers B K Handique in a written reply said that these bulk drugs have been kept under price control on the basis of criteria mentioned in ''Modification in Drug Policy, 1986'', announced in September, 1994.

Prices of non-Scheduled formulations are fixed by the manufacturers themselves keeping in view the various factors like cost of production, marketing/selling expenses, R&D expenses, trade commission, market competition, product innovation, product quality etc. The Government takes corrective measures where the public interest is found to be adversely affected.

The Government has delegated powers to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for fixation of prices of non-Scheduled formulations under Para 10(b) of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995 (DPCO, 1995). Further, Government has also reduced the permissible price increase limit in 12 calendar months from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for more effective check on price increases.

The monitoring of prices of non-Scheduled formulations is currently on the basis of data from ORG-IMS.

Based on in-house data-based analysis by NPPA of ORG IMS data for the period December, 1994 to July, 2007, it has been observed that the prices of 15 top medicines of 15 top bulk drugs which went out of price control consequent to the promulgation of DPCO'95, have gone up by 9.65 per cent annually, Mr Handique added.

UNI