MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Medicines widely used to treat diabetes, infections, pain and digestive disorders will cost 5-40% less with immediate effect, with the drug price regulator issuing an order to fix the prices of 39-odd formulations.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s (NPPA) order, issued on Wednesday, includes drug combinations such as ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, cefotaxime, paracetamol, domperidone and metformin + glimepiride and amoxycillin + potassium clavulanate.
These drugs and combinations are marketed by companies such as Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Lupin, Cadila Healthcare, IPCA and Sun Pharma, among others. According to analysts, these drugs have a market size of around Rs 1,054 crore (moving annual total value).
The NPPA order covers combinations of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and one non-NLEM drug under the Drug Price Control Order, 2013. While NPPA has fixed the ceiling prices of around 35-odd formulations, those of 3-4 other drugs have been revised, official sources in the department of pharmaceuticals, ministry of chemicals & fertilizers, told TOI.
"The move impacts multinational drugmakers like Abbott Laboratories and GSK and domestic firms. The overall impact for companies would be minimal as these drugs do not form a significant portion of the overall sales of the company," Angel Broking VP (research — pharma) Sarabjit Kour Nangra said.
The NPPA directive comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to re-examine its drug pricing policy for essential medicines, calling it "unreasonable and irrational".