Top-selling drugs to get cheaper! NPPA will soon bring 100 new drugs under price control

New Delhi, Nov 15: The drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) will soon bring 100 new drugs under price control. These drugs will include top selling medicines which are prescribed by doctors and sold by pharmacists.

As per a TOI report, "For instance, currently only one strength of Paracetamol is under price control, whereas NPPA has proposed to cap prices of all brands of the medicine as listed in the Indian Pharmacopeia. Similarly, in case of Nelfinavir and Ritonavir, commonly used antiretrovirals in treatment of HIV, the regulator plans to fix prices of tablets along with capsules."

This is the second time NPPA has tried to slash prices of drugs that are outside the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011.

Currently, the prices of just 348 medicine formulations listed in the NLEM is regulated by

.

The regulator's latest move is aimed at expanding the span of price control to include medicines which are commonly used.

As per the daily, recently, a detailed study was conducted by the pricing authority which revealed presence of certain "anomalies or discrepancies" in specification or description in the NLEM 2011. Findings in the study forced the NPPA to proposed rectification in the NLEM.

The daily's report further says, the move has created a stir among pharmaceutical companies who are concerned about stressed margins as well as instability promoted through such periodic price changes.

"Mass consumption is not a criterion for NLEM. It would be desirable that the selection of drugs is left to the core committee of experts as per the established criteria. The role of the NPPA is to implement the policy in letter and spirit and not create confusion leading to instability," DG Shah, secretary general, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance was quoted as saying.

Earlier, the NPPA withdrew a set of guidelines issued in May, invoking a public interest clause, based on which it had reduced the prices of 108 medicines in the anti-diabetes and cardiovascular segment and promised to bring many more under price control.

OneIndia News