Daily insulin shots for diabetics will pinch harder.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) — India’s drug pricing regulator — has allowed firms to increase the price of insulin products by 6 to 9 per cent, serving a bitter pill to the country’s 1.8 million
insulin-dependent patients.
Prices of popular insulin vials and pens will rise from later this week.
Pharma firm Novo Nordisk, which commands 60 per cent of the Rs. 614-crore insulin market in India, said the price of its large-selling Human Mixtard insulin pen would go up by Rs. 9 (6 per cent) to Rs. 162.
One vial serves the need for 10 to 12 days of an average insulin-dependent patient.
The NPPA said the hike in prices is based on a variety of reasons, including costlier raw material for domestic products and higher “landed” cost — the cost of insurance freight prices and clearing forward charges — for imported drugs.
“The price of raw material has gone up for domestic insulin product manufacturers,” an NPPA official said. “For imported products, landed costs have gone up because of higher insurance and freight charges.”
According to the International Diabetes Federation, an estimated 51.8 million Indians have diabetes, of which 1.8 million use insulin every day to keep their blood sugar levels under control.