There could be a delay in fixing new drug prices, which were earlier expected to be finalised by August.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the drug pricing regulator, is likely to put off for some time fixing ceiling prices of 100 bulk drugs due to little or no information available on prices.
“We are expecting a slight delay in fixing prices,” said CP Singh, chairman, NPPA, told HT. “We have unavailable data for 100 formulations and we need some time to collect information and verify prices. These formulations include anti-infectives, cardiac drugs, gastrointestinal medicines, painkillers and anti-cancer agents.”
The process of capping drug prices may not get over even by September because now the regulator has started writing letters to state drug controllers and companies to gather inputs and verify the prices from these sources before the final calculations.
{{/usCountry}}The process of capping drug prices may not get over even by September because now the regulator has started writing letters to state drug controllers and companies to gather inputs and verify the prices from these sources before the final calculations.
{{/usCountry}}Once implemented, the measure will bring down the prices of these drugs by around 20%.
The new drug policy, which caps prices of 652 formulations, has empowered the NPPA to fix the ceiling prices as per the new price control order.